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What is (Radiohead’s) music worth?
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In the wake of the Radiohead announcement that they would leave it up to the consumer to decide how much to pay for their new album, “In Rainbows,” I went to their website to pre-order it.
Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a semi-fan of Radiohead. I think they’ve made some great albums (The Bends, OK Computer), as well as some criminally overrated albums (Kid A, Hail to the Thief). I buy a lot of music, both from physical retailers and online. I have not, as of yet, heard any of the tracks that have leaked.
As I navigated through their website and added “In Rainbows” to my cart, I was presented with the choice.
How much did I want to pay for the album?
The website uses Euros as its currency, but for simplicity’s sake, I’ll use American Dollars. There was an immediate instinct to type “0.01,” as I am a cheap bastard (though, in reality, there is a 93 cent surcharge added to your purchase). Then, I thought, “well, it would cost me 10 bucks on iTunes.” Of course, on iTunes, the majority of the profits from that sale would go to the label. Radiohead being without a label, I cut it in half. $5 of cold, hard profit in exchange for an album’s worth of music. I couldn’t help but think that sounded like too little to pay for the results of months of creative and physical labor.
It led me to the question, and the brilliantly executed point that Radiohead has made… What is music worth?
It’s a pretty relevant and salient question to ask in the industry Burst Labs makes its farthings in. When someone will throw a few GarageBand loops together, call it a music bed, and find someone to unload it on at a bargain-basement price, doesn’t it devalue the work of those of us that are staring through our jeweler’s loops, trying to make our work as legitimate and genuine as we can?
When Moby can empty the trash folder on his PowerBook onto a website and call it a “free production music catalog”, how do you compete? Because, I mean, it’s Moby… basically saying “this music has no value to me.”
So now, I sit in front of my monitor wondering how much of money I should give to Thom Yorke & Co. The thing that mystifies me is that the decision is so hard. Record prices are arbitrary, conjured up by what the market will bear, and in this case, the market has the ability to say “I want to pay next to nothing for your hard work,” which would be a travesty.
I have no answers, and I still haven’t decided how much to pay.
Feel free to discuss below. [ms]
daniel @ burst says:
10/1/2007 -I’m paying $5 for the album download… enough to be decent about it, but not so much that I’ll want to skip buying the (non-special edition) physical package when it comes out next year. Seems fair, eh?
Eptin says:
10/2/2007 -This is quite a bit like the Terra Bite Lounge in Kirkland, WA. They have all the normal drinks a coffee shop would, have, but no prices, not even suggested prices. It’s quite simply a ‘pay what you think would be reasonable’ deal.
http://www.terrabite.org/
Article about it:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003558690_terrabite06e.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2007/02/05/2003558460.jpg
GadgetGadget.info - Gadgets on the web » What is (Radiohead’s) music worth? says:
10/2/2007 -[...] Rigel Gregg wrote an interesting post today!.Here’s a quick excerptWhen someone will throw a few GarageBand loops together, call it a music bed, and find someone to unload it on at a bargain-basement price, doesn’t it devalue the work of those of us that are staring through our jeweler’s loops, … [...]
Blog Feeds about Music » Archive » What is (Radiohead’s) music worth? says:
10/2/2007 -[...] You can read the rest of this blog post by going to the original source, here [...]
daniel @ burst says:
10/3/2007 -Pretty interesting post (and subsequent comments) over at Luis Villa’s tieguy.org :
check it here
tunequest says:
10/4/2007 -I think you’re over-estimating the appeal of people throwing “a few GarageBand loops” together. Sure, at this point Moby can dump his trash and call it music because he’s already established notoriety.
What about ten years from now, when the lingering effects of big-budget marketing have worn off? I think by then, social media, such as blogs and other online communications may be providing the critical mass in exposure, criticism and advocacy for artists. And I don’t think those gatekeepers will be so easily led to believe that a few GarageBand Loops strung together are of equivalent value to the musicians who study and shape their craft.
–
Also, the In Rainbows store is in British Pounds, not Euros. The U.K. is one of a handful of European countries using their own currency.
Matt says:
10/4/2007 -tunequest-
I don’t think I’m overestimating the appeal of “a few GarageBand loops” in the production music industry. I’ll grant you, the popular music industry is a different story, but I was more focused on the niche that BurstLabs dwells in.
And thanks for the correction, my bad.
danielholter.com says:
10/8/2007 -[...] Our view on Radiohead’s new approach was tackled last week at the Burst Labs music licensing blog. [...]
daniel @ burst says:
12/19/2007 -More added to the conversation : David Byrne (now with Wired Mag) interviewed Thom Yorke.
Yorke confirms the intent was not a new business model and that the pay-what-you-like experiment only worked because of who they are.
More timely and top shelf info, per usual, at Kings Of A&R.
Dave says:
2/29/2008 -Hey w’sup I have a ? do you guys work with garageband files NOT THE LOOPS I’m talking real songs that I put in the time to make lol, with a loop or two in some parts…I want the stuff that i did mixed down so it will be ready for vocals I had vocals put in the songs but it’s not mixing down right so I need help…
matt @ burst says:
2/29/2008 -er… well, um, wow, this is embarrassing. if you could state your question in the form of a question in plain workman’s english, we might have an easier time helping you out.
while this is not quite the appropriate forum for GarageBand questions, and I am somewhat less than familiar with Garageband, you might try bouncing out your tracks one by one and … yeah, I have no clue how to answer your question.
What is it about the mix you’re having trouble with? How is it not “mixing down right”? On second thought, you may want to ask your question at Apple GarageBand forum here… and be specific.
matt @ burst says:
2/29/2008 -We would, however, love to hear your take on Radiohead offering their album “In Rainbows” as a pay-what-you-wish download.