Seems 'pay us what you want' is a less-than-bright strategy online? Radiohead, at least, are having second thoughts. See also "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine..." in a previous post. We could see this as reflecting one of several things:
Kinda says it all.
- Radiohead gained as much revenue as they really deserved for their music...
- Radiohead decided that the record company was good for something, after all (perhaps their image, and access to still-powerful traditional distribution channels?)
- The online consumer sees 'pay what you want' as the opportunity for something for free.
- Radiohead's true fans are: a) not using the internet, b) prefer to have a tangible CD on their shelf, or c) are true online consumers (3, above)
- The novelty of pure online delivery for a band of this size was, well, an unprofitable novelty...
- Online 'honesty boxes' just go to show how deeply honest we all are as consumers!
The band has remained quiet about whether the experiment was a success, with many fans thought to have downloaded the album without paying anything at all. In Rainbows was later released conventionally as a CD, and topped the US and UK charts.
Kinda says it all.
2 comments:
Interesting story, sad too. I picked up slightly different aspects to note:
"...and the dwindling revenue pot from CD sales."
Yet when:
"In Rainbows was later released conventionally as a CD, and topped the US and UK charts."
All the free publicity and hype helped then, and others spotted it:
"Most recently fellow English rockers Coldplay said Monday that they would give away its new single Violet Hill free of charge, resulting in the group's website crashing the next day due to demand."
Thanks Tim. Yes, there is more to the story... perhaps the Web 2.0 'publicity machine' works well, but that is different from being able to make a living directly from it. Web 2.0 will no doubt find its place yet not BE the place.
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