November 6, 2007
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Radiohead
As I mentioned in my photoblog, Radiohead let its fans have a copy of the band’s latest release for whatever price they wanted to pay.
About 62% of the people who downloaded the release, decided to pay nothing. The remaining 38% paid on average $6. Here is the link: Link
If your favorite band released a digital copy of its latest CD and you were broke, would you take the release for free?
Comments (83)
Probably, but I’d find a way to make up for it later by buying merch or something.
Favourite? No. The rest of them, sure.
My favorite band? I don’t just hand that title out to any random band. Relient K has completely earned that title for me. And for that reason, I would probably pay *more* than what I would in a store. Real music deserves to be rewarded.
Well, my favorite band is no longer a band, but if it was a band I really liked, then yeah, probably.
“and you were broke”
Key phrase. Heck yes I would — music is integral to my life experience.
most likely yes.
but I might buy it later.
if it were my favorite, no…
But i dont know radiohead very well and therefore got it free. Cds arent where they make most of their money anyway, its like 5 cents a copy or something, mostly they get money from concerts, the big thing is getting your music heard so people want to come to your concerts and so people will give you gigs…
probably
ryc: ugh, sinus infections are the worst. Hope you get to feeling better soon!
My favorite bands are all dead.
yeah i would.
Uh yup.
Oh and that’s a really goofy picture. Look at his face…only thing missing is a helmet.
no…. i’d feel too bad. i’d prolly pay $15.
If I was broke.. I’d wait. They should be rewarded for making me so happy.. which I am not right now! LOL.. hehe, good night, Dan!
Nah, I’d feel bad. I’d pay at least $10. That’s just wrong people did that – cheating them, not even paying a dollar.
Of course.
If I could afford it, I would pay, for certain. But if i was broke and they offered, I would still want to appreciate their music.. I’d pay later
FREE. maybe i’ll pay a dollar.
I would, yes. But then I would purchase it later.
Given how I get my music for free online anyway, it wouldn’t be too different. However, I do try to actually buy my favorite bands’ stuff.
–Jared
sure would….
yeah
My favorite band is currently on an “indefinite hiatus”…i.e. broken up. Buuuttt….if they did this, I’d probabaly download it free (if I was broke that is), and then once I got some money, download it again and pay lots and lots. Or maybe just e-mail them and ask for a mailing address and send them something…they were one of those bands who strived to be accessible to their fans…I still often talk with the drummer and with the singer…music means a lot to me, and I’m generally willing to pay excess amounts for it, if I know it’s going to be good.
Yeah… but I’m poor
I’d feel guilty about it, actually moreso than if I just downloaded it illegally, if that counts for anything.
Radiohead is smart by giving it away free. The amount of profit that the producers and all get is so great that the amount of money the band itself earns is insignifcant. Radiohead probably gets just as much, if not more money by asking only for donations. And yes I would donate to a favourite band, like Radiohead.
sure, if they were offering it that way.
Stealing is another thing entirely.
My favorite band is Stone Temple Pilots. A few summers ago I was broke, so I worked my ass off to gain enough money to acquire all their C.D.s and promotional material.
But would I do all that for their stuff if they offer it for free? Hell, they’d expect me to be a poor chump.
i wouldn’t!
but then again, it’s shit like p2p that made SOULJABOY TELL’EM so popular. no one would pay shit for that fuckin song goddamnit.
God damn I love free stuff.
-David
If they offered it for free why not. I actually purchased Radiohead’s album for about $4.00. However, now I can’t find it on my hard drive for some reason. I think Radiohead’s scheme is a total bust. Artists do need record companies and record companies need the new technology. If they had priced their CD’s lower I doubt it would be as bad as it is now with people downloading music illegally.
Yes… My favorite band has plenty of money, and I’ve given enough money to them in the form of tickets, album purchases (I own all albums), merchandise, etc…
If I was broke then I probably would. But if I was a real fan then I would find other ways to make up for it when I did have money.
My favorite band is not really together…soo I can’t buy their album unless some tells me that the original Blues Brothers are making albums…
I love Radiohead. My coworker from the radio station I intern at paid a dollar then burned me a copy. If the tour, I’d go see them for sure though.
Radiohead is smart I think. People who may not have bought the album otherwise were able to get it, so it ends up in more hands than it would have. They don’t make a huge amount of money from album sales anyway.
Geesh…at least $2 or $3 if they were my favorite.
i’m actually part of the 38% that paid. 5 Euros. which today is what….$58???
I’d probably pay a few bucks if it was my favorite band, $5 or so.
If taking it for free were a legal option, sure.
I would feel much better about myself if I’d say no, but I would honestly have to say, yes. Though, I wouldn’t do it on a regular basis, the guilt isn’t worth it.
if they were offering it for free, sure. in the situation you mentioned, i’d probably pay ten or fifteen dollars depending on the number of songs.
When I’m not sharing music for free on file sharing websites like Rapidshare.com I’m getting music at Legalsounds.com at .09 a song… so if I liked Radiohead I would have either taken it for free or if I was feeling generous I would have paid .09 a song.
Maybe…if I really wanted to support thier music, I would pay a couple bucks.
No, if they trust you like that, it wouldn’t be fair to pay nothing.
Yes. I get all my music for free. But the way, I paid $0.00 for that Radiohead album (:
I actually downloaded the album for free at first. I listened to it and think it’s some of their best work to date. Because of the quality of the album, I went back and paid $15. I do the same thing with every other artist I listen to. Download some tracks and if I like what I hear, go out and buy the album.
Not everything cd these days are worth $15 – $20 an album. They might charge that, but with an average of 2 – 4 good tracks on a track list of 10 – 12 songs and a total listening time of 40 – 60 minutes, it’s not worth paying the full price for the whole album when you’re only listening to a couple of the songs from the album.
I took it for free first day it was out.
yep
I would probably download it and then later go back and donate when I had money.
Even if it’s not my favorite band, the only time I really download is just to hear if I like something…Amazon giving me just a clip isn’t good enough. Or, if I really need just one song for something.
But even if they were offering it that way, I don’t think I could.
Right now I’m waiting for the money to buy like three cds that I’ve wanted and have been out for a while…
And another next week…
ya
Again, I don’t have a credit card, and my mom isn’t gonna trust me with hers. So yes, I got it for free. I would have paid if i had had the means to do so.
You know it. Musicians don’t need more money.
if i were flat broke, I would still want to pay something. In store.
Harvey Danger once posted their new CD online and encouraged people to download it, because they weren’t what the record companies wanted to push at the time, but they still really wanted to get their music out there.
I has it.
Hell yeah, but I bet they make the money all back because of fan loyalty now. If someone gives you something for free, you are more likely to go buy a different album of theirs later.
I would probably take it and lie to myself on how I’d paypal them something later for it. It might not happen, but at least I’d feel good in my self-deception.
No, I actually downloaded this album from their site, I paid 2.5 pounds for it, not sure on exact conversion to dollars, but I think its close to $4. Not a lot, but it’s something.
I also don’t think those statistics are right, Radiohead hasn’t released their sales to the public.
It’s at best an educated guess, at worse, a fabrication.
No, I’d wait until I had some money.
Probably not..that would be stealing since I didn’t have the money to pay something for it.
If they were offering their music for free yes.
what people dont seem to understand about fans not paying for the album is that radiohead KNOWINGLY gave them that choice. if they wanted people to pay they would have required a minimum fee for the download. they didnt. so dont say that theyre being cheated out of their money. besides, most of the radiohead fans i know, myself included, bought the download for little or no money (i paid $1) with the full intent to buy the cd when it comes out later.
no.i’d still pay SOMETHING for it. even if it was only a dollar. i’d feel bad if i didn’t.
Why not? Surely the band expects a large majority of people to take it for free.
I’d download it for free.
I saw the same thing yesterday with the new Saul Williams album. There’s an option to get the album for $5, and then there’s the option to get it for free. Naturally, I opted for FREE.
btw, I LURVE Radiohead
Where can i download?
of course i got it for free! i am broke and they are not.
I would take it for free, but I would probably pay something if I liked it.
I’d take them up on their offer, whether I was broke or not has nothing to do with it. Free is always good.
Since they offered it that way I wouldn’t feel guilty if I was broke or not. I mean, how many times does someone hand you a free t-shirt and you say “NO NO, let me pay for that?”
And with that being said…I do purchase the music if it is a band or singer I really like.
I would (and did) take the release for free in any case where a band was already established Gods, as Radiohead are. They have money, and if they’re smart they’ve saved a lot of it. After ten years as Alternative Rock’s most important band, releasing an album for free – while progressive and awesome – is just not that much of a financial risk. Of course, it’s a bigger deal when a popular artist releases music for free, but it’s a common practice among lesser-known artists. mc chris, for example, released his album “Life’s a Bitch and I’m her Pimp,” for free. Being a nerdcore rapper, his audience is obviously not nearly as large as Radiohead’s, but where was I going with this?…
Oh, yes. In the case of up-and-coming artists, I think buying the music should be a priority. In the case of, say, Jimi Hendrix, whose family is trying to milk every dollar they can out of every releasable recording he ever made, I’m less sympathetic.
It should always be kept in mind, though, that most of the money goes to the label – and you’re free to think of that as a good or bad thing. In any case, I think it’s better to support independent labels – Merge, Matador, SubPop, et al – than the larger ones. The acts they sign are usually the best anyway. Interpol, the Shins, The Arcade Fire, The White Stripes, Band of Horses… all got their start on independent labels. And now the clincher, from a Merge Records promo poster:
“Cheaper music means more money for drugs”
it’s RADIOHEAD you have to give them SOMETHING.
the complete album is 2 discs. this is only one disc that they are letting people get for free. the complete album comes in a box set and comes out in december. it’s a good marketing ploy on thier part, because if you like the first half, you’ll want the second half. plus all the art and everything that’s coming in the box set is a huge bonus.
I’d pay for my favorite band’s CD at a later date rather than take it for free when I’m broke.
This is probably a stupid question, but did the whole ‘eliminate-the-middle-man-and-rising-costs’ scheme work for Radiohead? Did they make more or less money? How much more/less?
I think that if they ever tried this again, they should charge a set rate of 50 cents, then let the consumer determine the rest of the cost. That way it won’t attract as many people expecting to pay nothing without even a method of payment (Paypal or whatever).
It’s funny that more U.S. citizens paid more money and paid more often than citizens of other countries. I wouldn’t have seen that coming.
I don’t shop online. I’ve already had my identity stolen once.
However, I still buy cd’s, mainly because i would rather pay 10-15$ and get some music than pay nothing and get virii and spyware.
What do you mean by ‘broke’? Like, had the water and lights turned off, in tons of debt, and literally had not a penny to my name? Cause then I’d be worrying more about being thrown in jail than about downloading music. Or just your average poor college student ‘broke’? I qualify for that one, but even so I’d still try to pay ~$10 for the album if I liked the band that much.
I’d at least give them a penny as generous as they were.
If they were offering it for free, sure.
I’d still pay a couple of bucks. Radiohead is in a great position where they really don’t need any more money to survive, but as a general rule, if you want culture to survive, that culture needs funded.
I haven’t downloaded it yet, but when I do, I’ll probably pay $10. given the amount of time and effort they put into the songs, I feel it is the right thing to do. From my experience, it takes 1 hour of recording time to get 1 minute of one instrument recorded right.
A 4 piece band for a 60 minute album would take 240 hours, and this is before mixing, producing. That doesn’t even take into account the amount of time spent jamming to find new rhythmns, or writing new lyric to go over those rhythmns.
Nobody thinks of the “time” factor when buying an album. Everyone needs payed for their labor. Music is their job and product. If I choose to “own it”, I should pay them for their services.
Well being broke I’d hope I still have internet access…but yes I would….
The free price was good anyway because it was only a low quality release and the real good quality release is coming out later on and you have to pay for that one… I bet the people who paid for the first are pissed that they paid for a low quality version.
Saul Williams also did this – and I paid nothing..Of course, I have nothing to pay!
I don’t have my favorite bands. Bands comes and goes, were good in the beginning and they suck later or viceversa… I rather support DJ’s and indie.
I paid them $5… only because they let you choose the price. All of their other albums required you to pay, so I downloaded them illegally. I guess that by doing that and not supporting iTunes and record labels, I was supporting them after all.
I am unwilling to pay more than 15 dollars for a CD in any store regardless of how much I like a band. The reason is that I typically only enjoy two or three out of the 12 to 15 songs on the new CDs. Since buying a CD in a store gives me a hard copy and costs of shipping, labor, etc are taken into account…I think music online should be cheaper than music in stores….but not free since even though those so called artists are already richer than God, they still need a paycheck. I think 10 to 12 dollars would be fair for the same set of songs downloaded..
If it were offered for free and I were broke, yes. I’d give some money if I weren’t tight for cash.
Id pay something…cds are expensive!