How much would YOU pay!?

[jackofallgeeks]

So, OK. I know that Leslie is a big Radiohead fan, and I'd have to say I
like a number of their songs, too, but today's news points out that they don't
really know what they're doing, at least not business-wise.

In short, Radiohead has gotten some positive publicity for trying out a
"name your own price" approach on their last album. But that had been
suggested to the band by the manager just before they put the album up, and
they took the download option away not terribly long afterwards (so guys
like me who would have gladly handed them money for it never even got the
chance). Now it seems like they've made a half-cocked second try by asking
fans to remix a new single they've made -- and by "asking to remix" I mean
"buying the five streams from the band, remixing them, and forfeiting all
rights back to the band without any sort of prize or compensation" and by "a
new single they've made," I mean "a song they've been unable to complete
themselves for a while." So, as the TechDirt article puts it, they're
asking fans to pay Radiohead for the chance to do Radiohead's job.
That kinda leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

I like Trent Reznor's idea better.
(And, no offense Leslie, I generally like NIN's music more, anyways.)

Comments

[metis2be.livejournal.com]

What really annoyed me about radiohead was that the free album they offered ended up being a partial album of lower quality (which of course they failed to mention), so everyone who tried to do the right thing and pay full price ended up getting doubly fucked.

[surichan.livejournal.com]

William Gibson, I believe, wrote something about that getting-fans-to-remix-your-stuff-that-you-might-not-be-able-to-complete idea in one of his recent novels (can't remember if it was Spook Country or Pattern Recognition). It was just a little blurb, but the character was talking about how brilliant that actually is. Of course, he was talking about artists who just kind of leave their stuff up for free, and then fans take it and remix it, and it becomes something the musician themself can use, no strings attached. Still - thought it was interesting that Radiohead went and did that. And, hey - if the fans are willing to pay Radiohead to do Radiohead's job...well? Let them. If they're into it, cool.

As for Radiohead specifically, I thought they only offered that "name your own price" download to members of their fanclub or whatever; at least, that's what Carl led me to believe. I had no idea it was a free-for-all thing. Ahh, well. I still love In Rainbows.