In Rainbows was very probably(*) a financial success for Radiohead when they stuck it on the internet and said, "You can pay what you like!" (but if you want the big physical CD, you'll have to pay more).
Niggy Tardust was by some indications not quite so much a moneymaker - this could be because Radiohead has more fans with disposable income, or because of the way the deal was set up (pay nothing for these mp3s, or pay a little more for these, slightly better-sounding mp3s). It could be because In Rainbows is a better album, too, but let's not go there. (I like both - and have listened to Saul Williams more, but possibly because I find it a little more difficult.)
But Trent Reznor, who produced Niggy Tardust, has just made $750,000 in a matter of days after releasing a four-disc set of instrumentals. It could be that he appeals to a segment of the population with whopping big chunks of disposable income (hello, computer programmer overlords!). But that article puts forward the somewhat more interesting idea that it's because of the way he changed what he was selling. It's not about an album as an end-product any more. The music (at least one disc's worth) is just a free sample.
Where Reznor seems to be making his money is in using the money to persuade people to buy whopping big premiums:
Reznor's strategy of using multiple price points made his music easily accessible to fans. Those who wished to pay nothing could download a free version of Ghosts I. For $5, a digital version of all four albums was available, and for only $10, fans could get all the music on CD along with an immediate digital download. $75 and $300 deluxe versions were also made available and include things like a Blu-ray disc, a DVD of the multitrack audio files from the project, videos, deluxe packaging, and more.
...
Reznor is using five price points to segment his offerings, and the extra work this required appears to have paid off.
So -- is this a good analysis? Is this the future?
(*)No one's exactly sure, but there are some educated guesses. |