last100 - Latest Comments in Radiohead ends experiment, heads for traditional distribution. Was it a success?

Re: Radiohead ends experiment, heads for traditional distribution. Was it a success?

Andrew — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 01:31:12 -0000

I've seen some parts of the webcast. I particularly like the Smiths cover.
They played (as in played the record, not covered) the opening track from my favorite album of the year, The Shepherd's Dog by Iron & Wine.
I haven't heard the second In Rainbows disc... must do that soon.

Re: Radiohead ends experiment, heads for traditional distribution. Was it a success?

Daniel Langendorf — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:25:49 -0000

Andrew: You're not clouding the issue. I think In Rainbows is my favorite album of the year. And I agree, "success" will be determined by many things. I think they've been already successful. By the way, have you heard the second disc? And the Webcast, Thumbs Down? The Webcast hasn't been talked about, but it's great.

Matt D., I was thinking the same thing! I downloaded it illegally at first because the Radiohead In Rainbows commerce site sucked at first. When I finally got through, I bought the music, paying what I'd get it for at a Best Buy-like store. And with the physical release coming, I guess I will get that, too.

Re: Radiohead ends experiment, heads for traditional distribution. Was it a success?

Matt D. — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:22:57 -0000

It's going to be really interesting to see how their album sales go when the album is released in stores around the new year. I don't have any evidence to back this up, but I predict that the 2 months of online experiment are barely going to hurt sales. I think a lot of Radiohead will be willing to pay $15 for the CD even if they have already downloaded the full album.

Re: Radiohead ends experiment, heads for traditional distribution. Was it a success?

Andrew — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:55:11 -0000

Sorry to cloud the issue with a remark about music, but: In Rainbows is a rather good album.
As to whether the online, DRM-free, pay-what-you-want release has been a "success," I think that the Radiohead was trying to achieve several things, including, in no particular order:
- get the completed album out to fans as fast as possible. Very definite success on this count.
- make money. Success on this count depends on profit from all sources: the download, the CD, next year's tour, merchandise,... Right now, we don't know. We don't even know whether the download will hurt or help sales of the CD.