Call me a prophet, but it looks like my predictions of the recording industry disintegration are coming true, exponentially by the day. And of course, they're my OWN predictions and no one else's...
::Traditional labels are increasingly unnecessary. With distribution almost a non-issue, you can make all the money from your music::
So, great marketing move with In Rainbows, Radiohead. By cutting out all or most of the middle-men, and using your label-bred notoriety, you'll probably really rake it in tomorrow. You've done the requisite PR, and your fans love you.
I know you're making a statement, and that's great, it needs to be done to show the world what could be done or at least shake the labels up a bit. But selling your music exclusively on your own site isn't exactly ground breaking or new: plenty of artists have sold via their sites even before the whole mp3 thing got started. But, having consumers set their own price IS. (okay, aside from a few bands with free downloads who take Paypal donations)
It's one giant experiment, and really the first of its kind on such a big scale.
I think the lessons smaller bands can take away are the following:
- You can sell on album online and make money
- People will pay what they want to pay
- Effective publicity matters
- You may never have to bother with CD's again
The results of this will be interesting...
Oh, and I hear Oasis and others like Trent Reznor might be doing the same. I'm calling it now.
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