Thread: In Rainbows (Radiohead)    

http://www.inrainbows.com

Pre-order the album for whatever amount of money you want. $5, 10, 50, nothing. Those who pre-order will be able to download the album on the 10th.

So excited.

wow. i've been checking deadairspace and other fan forums forever now to see news/album updates, and that was really sudden and unexpected that theyre releasing it in 10 days and for free download. theyre still not even on a record label are they?

anyway, i just bought the discbox even though i dont know what the shit im going to do with the vinyls

wonder whether the cd is going to be available at the cd shop on dec 3rd.

well it says the discbox is being made to order, and theyre still not on any record label

Anyone get it today? I got my download this morning.

It's really great so far, standard Radiohead goodness. My favorite tracks are probably 15 Step, Bodysnatchers, and Jigsaw Falling into Place.

Its good. For me standouts are WierdFishes, Reckoner, 15 step. But the whole thing is great im happy. :D

It's a smart move but it's really not all that innovative, just unique to see a huge international name like Radiohead doing it. Smaller, lesser known bands have been doing his kind of things for a long time now.

It works as a business model, though. The only thing that's really negative about the state of affairs right now is coming from record companies--the fragmentation of distribution hurts their bottom line, that's it. Entertainers who are not in the business to be creative musicians are the only ones opposed to moves like this. As the internet becomes more and more widely used and people begin to understand that they can use the internet as an alternative to mass-media in order to find things that appeal more directly to them, the media conglomerates will either die out or adapt--but their doom is inexorable. And really, it's a good thing. Ever since the Beatles doomed us drab manufactured pop music all those years ago, creativity and innovation have been thoroughly suppressed due to the difficulties it presented to marketing think tanks. With the internet and emerging support for business models like the one radiohead is using now, we can finally get back to the Romantic era's grand dream of individual expression as the highest form of art.

So even though I'm not a fan, bravo to radiohead for staying ahead of the curve and bringing wider attention to the need for innovation in the marketplace of music.

url isn't working for me either=[

Damn, I was going to pay a couple bucks for this and not pirate it, but with the current state of affairs their site is in they have left me no choice.

Music is actually relatively cheap to make, its all the promotion that is expensive.

great album.

Originally Posted by Haelian

Ya, I just torrent'ed it. I was gonna throw 5 beans at them for it but the site didn't work so whatevz. Maybe I'll go back and donate it but I doubt I have enough will power to bother. At least I didn't leech their bandwidth for nothing I suppose.

Nothing new, considering Radiohead's last 2 albums, not that it's a bad thing. I suppose I was just always a bigger fan of the OK Computer and The Bends days. I do wonder where Radiohead's going after this. Are they going to continue releasing albums under the same pretense? I'm hard pressed to believe that they'll keep this up for very long, without a record company the only motivation they have is, well, making good music. There's no way the donations will be enough to cover the cost, so I see them either retiring or possibly signing to a label again.

You couldn't be more misinformed. First of all, the sales from this CD on their site will probably match, if not surpass the sales from their previous CDs. Look up supply and demand, consumer/producer surplus, and elasticity in some basic econ book and you should understand why that is. Second of all, the money they make from touring, merchandise, licensing, etc. far surpasses any amount they could even fathom to make from releasing a CD. Now take into account the fact that they are keeping 100% of the money from CD sales this time (not counting agent/manager fees which are constant) and have SIGNIFICANTLY less overhead on production and distribution of the music and you'll see that even if on average people only buy the CD for $1 they will still make a shit ton more than they would the "traditional" way (of course taking into account increased CD sales with the $1 average).

Originally Posted by Keno

Originally Posted by Haelian

Ya, I just torrent'ed it. I was gonna throw 5 beans at them for it but the site didn't work so whatevz. Maybe I'll go back and donate it but I doubt I have enough will power to bother. At least I didn't leech their bandwidth for nothing I suppose.

Nothing new, considering Radiohead's last 2 albums, not that it's a bad thing. I suppose I was just always a bigger fan of the OK Computer and The Bends days. I do wonder where Radiohead's going after this. Are they going to continue releasing albums under the same pretense? I'm hard pressed to believe that they'll keep this up for very long, without a record company the only motivation they have is, well, making good music. There's no way the donations will be enough to cover the cost, so I see them either retiring or possibly signing to a label again.

You couldn't be more misinformed. First of all, the sales from this CD on their site will probably match, if not surpass the sales from their previous CDs. Look up supply and demand, consumer/producer surplus, and elasticity in some basic econ book and you should understand why that is. Second of all, the money they make from touring, merchandise, licensing, etc. far surpasses any amount they could even fathom to make from releasing a CD. Now take into account the fact that they are keeping 100% of the money from CD sales this time (not counting agent/manager fees which are constant) and have SIGNIFICANTLY less overhead on production and distribution of the music and you'll see that even if on average people only buy the CD for $1 they will still make a shit ton more than they would the "traditional" way (of course taking into account increased CD sales with the $1 average).

I'm just curious where the money is going to come from to put out a full tour. usually the record labels foot the bill for that I believe. shouldn't be much of an obstacle for them, they could play anywhere they want and any venue would welcome them and fans will go to see them play.

Originally Posted by aurik

Music is actually relatively cheap to make, its all the promotion that is expensive.

They announced the CD literally 10 days ago on October 1st, and the only place I've heard about the album besides this forum and the website is a throw-away joke on Conan O'Brien.

There's a couple articles floating around too, from what I hear, about the "bold move" with the honor system Radiohead is doing with In Rainbows, but that's all free. Considering how loose some people's pockets are, this might end up being a huge net gain for them. They don't have to pay royalties to a record company, make CDs, or have any promotion (at least any I've seen or heard about).

Point is, word-of-mouth might be a brilliant way to sell your music.