I am so pleased to be a part of Prawfs for the month! –My sincere thanks to Dan & the gang for bringing me on board.
A few recent posts have noted musical taste. Monday’s spate of news about Radiohead allows me to not only follow that trend by discussing one of my favorite bands–I know I’m not alone in being shaped, years ago, by end-on-end playing of The Bends–but also to discuss an issue relevant to the field in which I teach and write.
As indicated by the band’s site and this piece (one of many), Radiohead has decided to offer its latest record, In Rainbows, via only its website, at least initially. In addition to a sizeable discbox (approx. US$82), the band is offering a digital version which may be downloaded at a price decided by the user (minimum one British penny, or approx. US$0.02, plus a surcharge of about US$0.91). The digital download will be unencumbered by DRM (digital rights management–that software which prevents you from, say, burning that great playlist you got via iTunes onto more than seven CDs). Ostensibly, there is no reason to pirate something one can purchase for under a dollar–and most likely, some folks will download the CD and pay more than the minimum amount (and still others will buy both the digital and discbox versions). Will the Radiohead business model catch on? If so, how might you envision the distribution rights agreements (as but one example of the potential impact) of the future?
Posted by Nadine Farid on October 2, 2007 at 03:30 AM
Comments
Piracy, of course, still carries its own distinctive luster that even the lowest legal price cannot dull–the fear and concomitant thrill of being caught. The Radiohead strategy might well therefore backfire, because it is so transparent of an attempt to nip piracy in the bud that the pirates themselves will respond aggressively as if they were under attack.
Posted by: Benjamin | Oct 3, 2007 7:00:43 PM
True–$0.30/song, or about $3.00/album. Notwithstanding the DRM-free option on iTunes, Radiohead refuses to sell its music there–but that’s due to the track-by-track option that Apple offers (Radiohead wants its music sold by album only).
Posted by: Nadine Farid | Oct 2, 2007 1:30:38 PM
It’s hard to say, given that Apple has recently “gone to bat” for its customers by offering music on iTunes that’s DRM-free for only 20 cents more I believe…
Posted by: Arnold | Oct 2, 2007 12:05:22 PM