One band is single-handedly trying to bring down the music empire that has been screwing bands over for years. Radiohead announced late Sunday night that its album, which had only been finished for a few weeks, was ready for the masses and would be available online Tuesday. Radiohead changed the corporate model of the music industry. While Radiohead’s new album “In Rainbows” won’t be available at the local record store in CD format until early next year, fans can download the album Tuesday or pre-order it this week. Wait, here’s the kicker: Fans don’t have to pay for the download if they do not wish to! When ordering the download from inrainbows.com, fans can enter their price for the record. Fans can even enter an amount of zero and still be able to receive the album. Radiohead has also set up a discbox set with the record and a respective vinyl, as well as a second disc of songs not on “In Rainbows” and a respected vinyl of that. This will cost Radiohead fans about $80. With both options, Radiohead will receive all the profit because it is not on a label. The traditional model consists of a band going into a studio to demo new songs, then selecting from those demos about 10 to 15 tracks to record and then finally mastering, or mixing, the record. Once a record has been mastered, it is ready for three months of marketing to produce public hype and anticipation. In the three months prior to a record’s shelf date, a song from the record is released to radio stations across the nation. The single is usually accompanied with a video for MTV purposes. A few years back, some tech-savvy people decided to skip the three-month process. They began to “leak” records onto the Internet before their initial shelf date. These leaks were obtained through advances sent out to the media for review and advertising. Since the record is up for grabs, Radiohead is essentially leaking its own record. While hip-hop artist The Game did the same with his last record, it was closer to the album’s shelf date. “In Rainbows” will not be released until next year. Bands such as The Format and Stars have released their music prior to an official shelf date online, but at a price. Radiohead recorded this album without a label, and now it’s taking the steps to release it without one. Questions still arise from all of this, and no matter how revolutionary the idea sounds – even in this writer’s mind – nothing is without fault. The first question is going to be how much money is gained or lost from this idea. If Radiohead makes bank, then success. Those corporate big shots at Capitol and Virgin records better start rethinking their game plan. But if Radiohead shows no significant capital with the online release or its shelf release next year, then this might show consumers will take advantage of the “free” variable. The second question is whether or not Radiohead has enough influence in the industry to inspire change. While having a cult following, Radiohead is part of a small percentage of bands such as Muse, Incubus and The Foo Fighters that have fans who can greatly influence the music industry. The final question, and the biggest: Will other, smaller bands be able to emulate this, and what will become of record companies? A large part of releasing records is the marketing and distribution aspect, which Radiohead is cutting out. Smaller bands may need to rely on the marketing efforts of their label. Time will only tell if this experience will be a huge catalyst to change the record industry, the implications it will have on independent labels and if there may be changes in other forms of media such as television and movies. Will consumers continue to wait for what they crave, or will our greed destroy a revolution before it starts? For now, go tell the industry the sky is falling in.
—-Contact Adam Pfleider at [email protected]