Has Radiohead's In Rainbows made the case for DRM?

[kavika411]

From the October 16, 2007 Forbes article entitled, "Free? Steal It Anyway."

Piracy, it seems, is about more than price... Downloaders who want to pay nothing [for Radiohead's In Rainbows] can enter "zero" in the site's price field and download the album for free... On the first day that Radiohead's latest became available, around 240,000 users downloaded the album from copyright-infringing peer-to-peer BitTorrent sources... Over the following days, the file was downloaded about 100,000 more times each day—adding up to more than 500,000 total illegal downloads.

Gigwise.com estimates that total album "purchases" (from the band's website) are 1.2 million.

[Blue Velvet]

So an estimated one in three are just too cheap and underhanded to even put a few cents, a dollar or two, Radiohead's way?

What a surprise... utter dolts.

[rdowns]

Pretty effed up. The last thing we need is to give the RIAA more ammunition.

I'm telling you, it's that sense of entitlement that is way too pervasive with the younger generation. To fight archaic music industry policies, older people won't buy, younger people will steal it online.

[calculus]

Why on earth would anyone download it from a torrent when they could, if they wished, get it free from the Radiohead site?

I guess some people just love being outlaws:rolleyes:

[1020]

Why on earth would anyone download it from a torrent when they could, if they wished, get it free from the Radiohead site?

I guess some people just love being outlaws:rolleyes:

So they don't put more load on Radiohead's website? If they weren't going to pay for it, there really is no point in getting the music from the official website - it would only slow things down for other (paying) customers and cost the band more money (bandwidth costs).

[rockosmodurnlif]

It may be distribution. I am on my favorite bittorrent website, perusing through the new additions and lo and behold here is Radiohead's new album. If it's there and I'm there why would I then go to Radiohead's website to get the album?

And the numbers are anti-DRM, if they matter at all. 500,000 illegal downloads vs. 1.2 million legal downloads?
So an estimated one in three are just too cheap and underhanded to even put a few cents, a dollar or two, Radiohead's way?
I say when given the oppurtunity 2 in 3 go the legal route. That's probably better numbers than if the album had been released through traditional methods.

[elbows]

a lot of people that werent going to pay for it would have gotten it by other means anyway. Those that wanted to pay have made it a worthwhile exercise for Radiohead, who will get more of the money as they arent under a record contract anymore.

But this does not necessarily mean Radioheads experiment will work for everyone.

The death of the music industry is overstated. Sure they no longer have a tight monopoly on distribution, but in terms of Marketing, the old powers still have a lot of power. Radio play, music videos as advertising, the music press talking about you a lot, are all still important things that many musicians will need to get a large audience. Word of mouth internet marketing, social networks, and touring may be enough to get round this but Im unsure, time will tell.

[hexonxonx]

Well I really had no idea who Radiohead was, so i thought this would be a good chance to find out. I downloaded it for free from the bands website yes- 0.00 and gave it a listen. I think it was the quickest I had ever downloaded something, then deleted it. Nothing wrong with the band, just not my taste.

I did see it offered in all the usual illegal sites. I am just not sure why this band decided to offer the pay the price you think the music is worth path with this CD because no matter what, ANY CD, even weeks before the official release is available on the illegal sites no matter what band it is.

As far as DRM, no it hasn't done a thing.

And just to cover myself, I have 1467 items that appear on my purchased tab in my iTunes, all purchased within the past two months. I have been paying for all my music since the two months.

[yetanotherdave]

A few reasons as to why people may have torrented it.
It's easier, faster, doesn't require registration and was free anyway, so what does it matter where you get it from. None of those reasons point to people pirating for the sake of pirating it.

[chillywilly]

My personal opinion is that Radiohead has made a big enough statement about the record companies and DRM and the case against both of them being the monopolistic standard. Combine that with Trent Reznor, Apple and a slew of other artists that are starting to embrace the user experience vs. the tightly controlled music industry unwilling to budge in large amounts, and you have the beginnings of a change that can't be ignored.