(originally published 2 October 2007 here)
Radiohead are about to launch an interesting experiment; the latest in a series of attempts to uncover a new revenue model for the music industry. Next Wednesday, October 10th, the band's latest album, In Rainbows, will be released. Initially, it will only be available as a digital download, and purchasers will decide what they want to pay. No, really, you can pay Radiohead whatever you want to have access their newest tracks.
News bulletin: CD sales are sinking. OK, not so newsworthy.
Why? For one, there is a ton a free music to be had quite easily via the internet: the still-popular file sharing programs like Limewire, bit torrent sites that specialize in audio and video full concert performances, the opportunity to stream music from everywhere - be it KCRW's renowned show "Morning Becomes Eclectic" or what's hot in Croatia right now - or be your own DJ on countless sites including lastfm and Live365, and the unlimited exposure to new music through Pandora's Music Genome Project.
Oh, and then there's that iTunes store. I know, iTunes song downloads aren't free, but its runaway success has both spawned others experimenting with both subscription and pay-per-song models(Rhapsody, Amazon, eMusic), and has certainly given the record industry pause about how it distributes and sells its "content."
So will the virtual tip jar work? For a while these proliferated on content web sites in the early '00's in an egalitarian (far-fetched?) hope that the effort put into the sites you visited on your employer's nickel were worth at least as much as the change from your latte that you tossed into your barista's counter cup adorned with some guilt-inducing and not terribly funny phrase. Perhaps the most lucrative tip-jar collector at the time was conservative columnist Andrew Sullivan's blog, but today he's sponsored in part by the Atlantic.
The cynic will point out that it doesn't matter, financially speaking, for Radiohead, one of the pop music universe's critical and commercial successes. In Rainbows will be released as a "traditional" CD to stores in early 2008, though the band is currently without a label. Should that matter? For the über-fan/collector, there is also a deluxe package including two CDs, one with additional tracks plus photos and original artwork, two vinyl discs with all of the same songs, plus a lyric book, another goodie or two and the download code to get digital files for the low, low price of £40, north of $80 at today's stellar dollar exchange rates.
I tip my hat to Radiohead's tip jar, exploring and expanding the boundaries for musicians to distribute and be compensated for that which gives me, and millions of others, untold joy. I also plan on filling the tip jar for my copy of In Rainbows. How much should I pitch in?
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