Is anyone surprised? Why would you pay if it’s being given away for free? The band still intends to release a CD, it’ll be interesting to see how many copies they sell.
Radiohead let its fans decide how much to pay for a digital copy of the band’s latest release, “In Rainbows,” and more than half of those who downloaded the album chose to pay nothing, according to a study by a consumer research firm.
Some 62 percent of the people who downloaded “In Rainbows” in a four- week period last month opted not to pay the British alt-rockers a cent. But the remaining 38 percent voluntarily paid an average of $6, according to the study by comScore Inc.
Radiohead broke with its past practice of releasing its music in CD format and through a major record label when it released its seventh studio album online itself. The biggest wrinkle was the band’s decision to let fans pay as much or as little as they wanted to download a copy.
[...]
Among U.S. residents, about 40 percent who downloaded the album paid to do so. Their average payment was $8.05, the firm said.
Some 36 percent of the fans outside the U.S. who downloaded the album opted to pay; on average, those fans paid $4.64, according to the study.
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posted November 6, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Too bad there’s no way for them to count those who won’t download it even for free.
posted November 7, 2007 at 9:07 am
Apparently the fact that Coldplay made about $10 million from selling their album directly to their fans is irrelevant (incidentally, this is about 5 times more than they could have expected to make if they had sold it through a label). No, all that matters is that most people downloaded the album for free with the band’s permission.
posted November 7, 2007 at 9:10 am
And by Coldplay, I mean Radiohead.