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Radiohead v The Man

SO WHAT is to be made of Radiohead's startling music-selling gambit, in which the British band is offering its seventh album, "In Rainbow", on its website for whatever price a fan chooses (including nothing)? Reactions have been mixed, but the consensus seems to be that Radiohead's dramatic decision to cut out the middle-man and deal directly with fans is an inspired experiment. Paying $20 for an album, of which little ends up trickling down to the artists themselves, may be a thing of the past.

So I'm intrigued by Tyler Cowen's ho-hum take on this so-called music-industry coup.

Here is the story, but no this model won't much change the music industry.  Yes you really can download this album and "tip" Radiohead as you feel inclined to.  But note that:

1. Radiohead is an indie cult band with extreme loyalties from its partisans and the possibility of attracting more such partisans by seeming "cool."

2. Radiohead peaks high on the charts (#3 for their last release, if I recall...) but I believe they sell the product pretty quickly and don't have a long run at the top.  Again, they'd like to widen their fan base.

3. Radiohead's gambit has reaped enormous publicity, but this won't be the case next time.

4. Many donors will give to a highly visible "cause of the month" (remember the outpouring of support for the tsunami victims?) but they won't necessarily give on a regular basis.

5. Radiohead probably has an especially high ratio of touring to CD and iTunes income; see #1.  This scheme is a natural for them but not for Kelly Clarkson. 

What we will see is lots of lesser bands (and authors) giving their work away for free, but that trend has been underway for some time.  And by the way, Radiohead's best album is Kid A.

Few of these points seem to negate the potential lasting impact of Radiohead's decision. If this scheme is indeed a good way for the band to widen their fan base, why wouldn't other bands follow suit? Also, doesn't this sales approach create a new "authenticity" challenge for other bands? And isn't Radiohead now locked into this approach - of giving their work away for potentially nothing - for fear of bad publicity if they resort to something more conventional next time?

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. But given the enormous positive feedback so far (captured in many of the comments here), Radiohead may have designed a new record-selling paradigm.

(Though Cowen may be right about Kid A)