blog Radiohead: Perhaps A Breakthrough in "Ritual Honor"
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As reported in Digital Music News "Radiohead Spins Donation-Based Album Sales Strategy" and at Tooker's blog who first broke the news for his readers here at Fuzz, Radiohead is making a pay-what-you-want [plus minor delivery charges] for its upcoming album, In Rainbows. If you go to
their website
, you will note how choked their servers are at the moment.

If this really happens, what Radiohead is doing is game-changing in digital music distribution. This is, indeed, what we were discussing earlier about a new music ecosystem based on Honor Given For Honor Received!. What a bold and great step by one of the most provocative and defining music groups of the 1990s with staying power into the modern digital era. We should all celebrate and support this effort as it unfolds for the breakthrough undertaking that it represents.

Note what Lefsetz says about it in his Sept 30 blog Radiohead In Rainbows. Here are some quick Lefsetz take-aways in his inimitable style:


1. "It's not like Radiohead's living in a different world. But they're playing by a different rule book. One that says the money flows from the music, that people have to believe in you, that you've got to treat them right.

2. This is big news. This says the major labels are fucked. Untrustworthy with a worthless business model. Radiohead doesn't seem to care if the music is free. Not that they believe it will be. Because believers will give you ALL THEIR MONEY! [emphasis added]

3. This is the industry's worst nightmare. Superstar band, THE superstar band, forging ahead by its own wits. Proving that others can too. And they will...They're THINKING FOR THEMSELVES!

4. What did that button say back in the sixties? "Question Authority"? That's what Radiohead is doing here. They're not holding back, saying their hands are tied, but are forging into the future.

5. ...you can make a record all by your lonesome, it doesn't cost that much. And you can say exactly what you want, you don't need to clean it up for Wal-Mart. And, you can distribute it yourself online. That's what Radiohead is doing.

6. Will they do it themselves? ...will they leave ALL that money on the table? Shit, that would blow MY mind." Lefsetz



In addition, you should check out once again the representative sampling of Radiohead Videos that Beradley posted as his first ever Friday Videos of The Week Selection. His choice of Radiohead was serendipitous.

Watch this space as Music Ecosystem II unfolds at our Nightschool For Entrepreneurs.
Comments
posted on Oct 1 at 12:09 pm
he beat me to it by like 2 hours.
i hella called that too!

You can also pay whatever you want for it.
from 0.00 to whatever.

chaaa!
posted on Oct 1 at 2:59 pm
fucking genius.
posted on Oct 2 at 5:55 am
Here is another good article about the Radiohead experiment posted by Danny Ashe of Marqui Adora on October 1 at his "Autobot" blogsite. Marqui Adora are also experimenting with some cutting edge stuff to change the landscape of music distribution and discovery.
posted on Oct 4 at 1:21 pm
More views of Lefsetz [2007/10/04] on the continuing story of the Radiohead "Tip Jar"/url]: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2007/10/04/radiohead-tip-jar/.

I provide a quick read below of Lefsetz' latest rant which is right on the mark:



1. This is not a model for the future.

2. Is the Internet the end, or the beginning?

3. Do bands have to survive on tours? What about composers, non-touring artists...are they FUCKED?

4. The fan has no interest in the label's business model. The fan is just that, SOMEONE DEDICATED TO A BAND'S MUSIC!

5. How do you get someone dedicated?

6. How do you get your fans to trust you?

7. That's what all the bands are learning from the Radiohead model. If you're cool, people will give you ALL their money.

8. Some kid, of the type who STARTED Google, is gonna figure out how to get his new band, which won't get MTV or Top Forty radio airplay, paid. This band will have direct communication with its fans via the Net.[emphasis mine] Maybe they'll have to give the music away for free now, but this won't be forever. They'll come up with a business proposition that is appealing.



This reinforces the views expressed earlier that part of the new model will depend on how diligent the Artists and their trusted Facilitators are in establishings and maintaining an on-going two-way communication/interaction with their fans .
posted on Oct 8 at 11:17 am
Here is another great article by Resnikoff about Radiohead and the future of the digital recording industry.. Some quick take-aways from his article are as follows:


1....is this a workable sales model?... For most, the answer is no...Newer groups are mainly struggling against obscurity, and recordings are best employed as free, promotional tools...

2....artists have an even smaller vote in the bigger landscape for music acquisition. For most, music is best acquired through P2P-based file-sharing, person-to-person swapping across avenues like IM, and CD-ripping.

3. This is a market that is highly fluid, and incredibly susceptible to change...Unfortunately for the recording industry, such pricing discussions introduce a much darker possibility. Because it remains unclear if consumers will ever warm to discrete purchases of recording assets.

4. Artists are already planning for a life without meaningful recording revenues, and shifting attention towards more lucrative and controllable channels. The competition against free is going poorly...

5....if the recording industry is to survive in a meaningful way, labels and artists must find a better solution than 99-cent downloads and protected subscription services. That means different pricing, broader platforms
[emphasis mine] and access, and openness towards innovative concepts like those being floated by Radiohead. Because in a transforming industry like this one, the most influential concepts are often the least expected, and most resisted.

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