In a so called revolutionary move to take on the music industry machine, Radiohead released their latest album In Rainbows for download only (mp3) on a special website. The only twist was the price tag - pay what you like, so punters could pay nothing for the album. I must admit that my payment was based purely on the quality of the last three Radiohead albums which have failed to impress. So I viewed this as a preview and I hope to do a full review of the album soon. Unfortunately the band have set a high benchmark with The Bends and OK Computer - commercial yes, but brilliant music.
On the first few listens In Rainbows doesn't come close to matching the earlier albums, giving a much more free form flowing album but never moving away from this stream of consciousness approach. The effect is striking, particularly when Thom Yorke gets into gear, but you are always dragged back the glorious music they used to make with melody and structure.
Radiohead have not revealed how much profit the 'download' experiment made them, and Thom Yorke has famously said that he paid nothing for his own album - a wonderful publicity stunt. Word is that they have done 'ok' from the enterprise. I have just read that Trent Reznor has tried a similar marketing tactic for the new Saul Williams album, which Reznor produced. This is from the BBC 6music news website:
He says his download experiment has had mixed results. The Nine Inch Nails frontman produced the new album by rapper Saul Williams, The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust. And Reznor says that given the option, one in five people paid $5 for a high quality MP3 download - the rest paid nothing. The total number of downloads was 154,449. "Perhaps by revealing of all our data -- our 'dirty laundry' -- we can contribute to a better solution," said Reznor in an online posting.
The album In Rainbows has now been released as a 'proper' album and is set to be one of the biggest sellers of the year. So the experiment seems to have worked.
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