To quote David Byrne on the accompanying WIRED piece: "What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that's not bad news for music, and it's certainly not bad news for musicians. Indeed, with all the ways to reach an audience, there have never been more opportunities for artists." People don't have to be musicians to understand this. This is common knowledge to anyone who has watched the OVERALL quality of music go down the s**tter since the mid-90s.
I love that Radiohead tried this, and that it worked for them...I think anything that can take some of the structure and power away from record companies and forces them to change their ways is a good thing. However I'm worried that this type of business model is much more likely to work for established bands, who already have a built-in and loyal fanbase (such as ourselves). If you needed pay in order to download an album from a band you had never heard of, would you pay or try to download it for free? Even if an established band tries this and it doesn't work out as well, they'd still be relatively okay financially from touring, endorsements etc. but I think for struggling artists this is much more challenging. That being said, with Radiohead, NIN etc. overall it's definitely an exciting time for the music industry!
socialsound1982Dec 20, 2007
To quote David Byrne on the accompanying WIRED piece: "What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that's not bad news for music, and it's certainly not bad news for musicians. Indeed, with all the ways to reach an audience, there have never been more opportunities for artists." People don't have to be musicians to understand this. This is common knowledge to anyone who has watched the OVERALL quality of music go down the s**tter since the mid-90s.
terminal157Dec 20, 2007
It's from a necessarily low quality webcast. The lack of definition in the sound is caused by that, not what they were playing.
shanehondaDec 20, 2007
Funniest comment I've read in ages.
8teveDec 21, 2007
I love that Radiohead tried this, and that it worked for them...I think anything that can take some of the structure and power away from record companies and forces them to change their ways is a good thing. However I'm worried that this type of business model is much more likely to work for established bands, who already have a built-in and loyal fanbase (such as ourselves). If you needed pay in order to download an album from a band you had never heard of, would you pay or try to download it for free? Even if an established band tries this and it doesn't work out as well, they'd still be relatively okay financially from touring, endorsements etc. but I think for struggling artists this is much more challenging. That being said, with Radiohead, NIN etc. overall it's definitely an exciting time for the music industry!