In the past ten days one of the biggest stories has been Radiohead’s decision to allow people to download their album, In Rainbows, at any price the fans choose. Initial news reports were a bit misleading, as it turns out that the band would has allowed the album to be downloaded for free.
Radiohead should adopt the transparency that Issa has to inform the public as to how much people are paying for the album. Issa is the artist formerly known as Jane Siberry, a successful Canadian singer/songwriter with a career spanning more than two decades, and twelve albums. She has allowed people to download her music for free as a gift, or at a price the user set for the past two years. Additionally, people have the option to pay now or pay later.
The statistics have been pretty consistent according to her website for the past year. About 20% download the songs as a gift, another 20% pay for the music at download, the remaining 60% claim that they will pay later. What is not clear on the website is whether any of the 60% who claim that they will pay later do in fact return to pay, or are their downloads gifts from Issa.
Similarly, when people actually choose to pay, the amount has remained consistently around $1.15 per song. While people pay a premium compared to the rate on iTunes, it is not enough to fund Issa’s work as she has implemented a patronage system to pay for her recording expenses.
Earlier in her career, Issa’s patrons were the major labels. Of course, her early patrons had nasty little contracts to protect their investments. On the other hand, her new patrons presumably expect nothing but good music in return for their gift.
Issa likely would not have the fan base to support a patron and user determined revenue stream without the time she spent on the major labels developing her fan base. Trent Reznor, who is now independent, spent his entire career on major labels who funded his records and tours while developing his fan base.
One of my clients once observed that there are more middle men in the music industry than in any other business, and all the middle men have their hands out along the way. The beauty of the Digital Age is that the number of middle men necessary for artists to reach their audiences is diminished as the barriers to the fans are much lower on the Internet.
Sites like MySpace, Imeem and Facebook are great marketing tools for musicians. There are a range of distribution choices for musicians and labels to get music on digital sites, e.g. IODA for labels, TuneCore and CD Baby for individual bands. Services like EchoMusic and Music Today are customer relation management tools created specifically for musicians. And the list goes on…
Times they indeed have changed since Trent Reznor and Radiohead last executed major label contracts. It is now feasible for a band with an existing substantial fan base to maintain, and perhaps expand, its fan base using new distribution and marketing techniques.
However, a musician can benefit greatly from an affiliation with a label. The right label, with a healthy contract, can serve as the back office for a musician so that they do not have to worry about every aspect of the business of music.
Fundamentally, the longterm impact that Radiohead and Trent Reznor may have on the music industry is that the major labels may be forced to go to rehab to reform their business practices.
ETA: For more information on this topic, see Radiohead In Perspective, or having your cake and eating it too
Spot on commentary, Nancy.
There’s a place for all of the players in the music business (except maybe a few middle men!).
Record labels aren’t inherently evil, nor are artists overflowing with altruistic intent.
Hopefully we can all come out on the other side of ‘rehab’ in a healthier, happier, brighter musical landscape.