iblog

At a time when music piracy laws are making everyone feel like a criminal for downloading free music, it is refreshing to see that there are some bands who are on the side of the public, either by offering their music for free or by allowing the listeners to pick the price at which they’d be willing to buy it. This is the case for Rainbows, the much anticipated seventh album from alternative rock group Radiohead. Fans can log on to the band’s website and download the album at a price they choose which is anything from nothing to one hundred pounds.

In this interesting experiment, Radiohead have refused to reveal to the public what the average amount is that they are receiving for the downloads at this stage. It is certainly clear that there will definitely be many freeloaders untouched by any ethical idea of paying a reasonable amount for it. However, it is also clear from the massive success of Radiohead’s previous albums (the last three of which went straight to number one) that Radiohead has a huge fan following who will go to great lengths to show how much the band’s music is worth. Not only this, but some are even paying for the music simply because they believe the idea is a good one - regardless of whether they like Radiohead or not!

Bryce Edge, one of the managers for Radiohead, says that he trusts the band’s fans and knows they will not be let down. He says:

“We’re prepared to take a risk and we might come out looking very foolish. But we believe if your music is great, then people will pay for it.”

Though I’m no Radiohead fan myself, I do admire this new liberal attitude with their music. Though, of course, it is much of a marketing strategy as it could make people more willing to pay the band, it is still quite a risk and it shows that Radiohead have that much faith in the quality of their music.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 at 4:53 pm and is filed under Internet, Business, Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.