Radiohead - In Rainbows
Time.com very recently ran an article on the music industry with a particular focus on Radiohead's upcoming release, "In Rainbows". While different artists have experimented with selling their own music on the Internet, Radiohead is taking it one step further by giving listeners the option to pay as much or as little as they want for their new album. The implications could be far-reaching. For years, CD prices have fallen within a certain price range, typically selling anywhere from $9.99 for new releases to $15.99 after a cooling off period. Whether an album is worth these prices largely depends on a person's musical taste and temperament. Opinions develop and change. What someone may be willing to pay one day could be entirely different the next.
Potentially giving away music for free may seem like career suicide, but in the case of Radiohead's upcoming release, it makes sense. Fans have the choice to download the album Oct. 10th, paying what they want. A separate disc box collection is set for release on December 3rd. It is very comprehensive and will surely appeal to diehard fans. It includes one regular CD, two vinyl albums, an enhanced CD containing additional tracks, digital photographs and artwork, a slipcase, hardback book and lyric booklets. The price of the Disc Box is set at 40 pounds (or $81.65) and is not negotiable. Moreover, the Disc Box will include the digital download. What the band is counting on is that those who download the album on Oct. 10th will not just be content with the download alone and will also want the extra tracks offered on the enhanced CD that comes with the Disc Box. The digital download is the teaser. The Disc Box is the enticement.
One may argue that if the digital download is available as part of the Disc Box, then why pay for it the first time around? For the sake of argument, let's divide the price of the Disc Box (40 pounds) by the number of contents (2 cds, 2 vinyl albums and a digital download for a total of five items). Under this calculation, each item including the digital download is worth eight pounds. If you pay for the digital download on Oct. 10th and also buy the Disc Box, you are essentially paying twice for the same thing. The beauty of Radiohead's "Name Your Price" strategy is that it does not penalize the fans for wanting both products. While the fans are more than free to pay twice for the same item, they are not obligated. Under these circumstances, Radiohead cannot be accused of gouging their fans since they are giving them the freedom to opt out of paying for the Oct. 10th digital download. Whether fans opt out or not, however, is another story.
Just as some fans will want both products, others may only want the digital download. Under this scenario, the true risk of the band's strategy appears. Each fan will decide how much or how little he/she pays for the download. Without hearing the new album, other factors will have to be considered when naming a price, e.g. Radiohead's track record, reputation, artistic integrity, and overall creativity. The final decision will ultimately depend on each fan's perception of these factors. If fans still have trouble deciding a fair price, they can always fall back on the iTunes pricing schedule which offers songs at $0.99 apiece. The other possibility looms as well - fans may ignore all of these factors and pay nothing.
When I initially heard Radiohead was allowing fans to choose their own price, I wask skeptical. No other band has ever tried this. Sure enough, it is true as the Time.com article attests. When you visit Radiohead's online store, there is a question mark by the price for the digital download. When you click it once, a prompt appears, "It is up to you." When you click it again, a similar prompt appears, "No really. It's up to you." The band is quite serious about giving their fans the ability to name a price. Underlying this gesture is a great respect for the fans. While nobody knows yet how all of this will play out, industry eyes will certainly be watching closely.
Links:
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1666973,00.html
http://www.inrainbows.com/Store/Quickindex2.html
Potentially giving away music for free may seem like career suicide, but in the case of Radiohead's upcoming release, it makes sense. Fans have the choice to download the album Oct. 10th, paying what they want. A separate disc box collection is set for release on December 3rd. It is very comprehensive and will surely appeal to diehard fans. It includes one regular CD, two vinyl albums, an enhanced CD containing additional tracks, digital photographs and artwork, a slipcase, hardback book and lyric booklets. The price of the Disc Box is set at 40 pounds (or $81.65) and is not negotiable. Moreover, the Disc Box will include the digital download. What the band is counting on is that those who download the album on Oct. 10th will not just be content with the download alone and will also want the extra tracks offered on the enhanced CD that comes with the Disc Box. The digital download is the teaser. The Disc Box is the enticement.
One may argue that if the digital download is available as part of the Disc Box, then why pay for it the first time around? For the sake of argument, let's divide the price of the Disc Box (40 pounds) by the number of contents (2 cds, 2 vinyl albums and a digital download for a total of five items). Under this calculation, each item including the digital download is worth eight pounds. If you pay for the digital download on Oct. 10th and also buy the Disc Box, you are essentially paying twice for the same thing. The beauty of Radiohead's "Name Your Price" strategy is that it does not penalize the fans for wanting both products. While the fans are more than free to pay twice for the same item, they are not obligated. Under these circumstances, Radiohead cannot be accused of gouging their fans since they are giving them the freedom to opt out of paying for the Oct. 10th digital download. Whether fans opt out or not, however, is another story.
Just as some fans will want both products, others may only want the digital download. Under this scenario, the true risk of the band's strategy appears. Each fan will decide how much or how little he/she pays for the download. Without hearing the new album, other factors will have to be considered when naming a price, e.g. Radiohead's track record, reputation, artistic integrity, and overall creativity. The final decision will ultimately depend on each fan's perception of these factors. If fans still have trouble deciding a fair price, they can always fall back on the iTunes pricing schedule which offers songs at $0.99 apiece. The other possibility looms as well - fans may ignore all of these factors and pay nothing.
When I initially heard Radiohead was allowing fans to choose their own price, I wask skeptical. No other band has ever tried this. Sure enough, it is true as the Time.com article attests. When you visit Radiohead's online store, there is a question mark by the price for the digital download. When you click it once, a prompt appears, "It is up to you." When you click it again, a similar prompt appears, "No really. It's up to you." The band is quite serious about giving their fans the ability to name a price. Underlying this gesture is a great respect for the fans. While nobody knows yet how all of this will play out, industry eyes will certainly be watching closely.
Links:
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1666973,00.html
http://www.inrainbows.com/Store/Quickindex2.html
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