Radiohead Experiment

At the recent Midem music conference in Cannes, Brian Message, co-manager of Radiohead, revealed a little of the successes he had with the “pay-what-you-want” business model for Radiohead’s last album release. Without providing exact numbers, Message said that the band had received revenue well above the cost of album production.

But an even more important result was given in an example for a live show done in San Francisco. Previous shows by Radiohead in S.F. had drawn roughly 25,000 people. The show after the “In Rainbows” album release drew over 60,000 fans. Radiohead also has contact information now for every person that downloaded the album.

This is an important precedent in the music industry. Radiohead made money on a risky album release where they were unsure if a profit would even be generated. And they took out a middleman (EMI) and were able to gather unprecedented amounts of fan data.

Radiohead is lucky in that it had original backing from labels who assisted in the distribution and promotion of the band’s talent. So, does this hold true for new and upcoming bands? Should they tackle the business side alone and give away their music in hopes that it builds a fan base that will be loyal come tour time? One thing is for certain, new bands will have a more difficult time gathering wide international appeal. On the other hand, their success will be related to the quality of their music and the innovation of their sales approaches.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com