Radio Head (music industry)

Objective: To develop understanding of the new business model used by Radiohead.


How did Radiohead release “In Rainbows” (production, distribution and marketing)?
In Rainbows was recorded in London, Somerset, Wiltshire, and Oxfordshire with producers Mark Stent and Nigel Godrich. Radiohead worked on In Rainbows for more than two years, beginning in early 2005. In between recording, the band toured Europe and North America for three months in mid-2006.

In Rainbows is the seventh album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead. It was first released on 10 October 2007 as a digital download, followed by a standard CD release in most countries during the last week of 2007.

In Rainbows was physically released in the UK in late December on XL Recordings and in North America in January 2008 on TBD Records, charting at number one both in the UK and in the US.

Days after announcing the album's completion, Radiohead released In Rainbows as a digital download that customers could order for whatever price they saw fit. Upon its retail release, In Rainbows entered the UK Album Chart and the U.S. Billboard 200 at number one; it went on to sell three million copies worldwide in both digital and physical formats. The album earned widespread critical acclaim, and was ranked as one of the best albums of 2007 by several publications. In 2009, the record won two Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Special Limited Edition Package.

Radiohead retained ownership of the album recordings and song compositions for In Rainbows. The download and "disc box" versions of the album are self-released by the band, while for the physical release, the band licensed the music to record labels.
The album's licensing agreements for all releases continue to be managed by the band's publisher, Warner Chappell Music Publishing.



Success (figures/reception)
In early October 2007, a spokesman for the band reported that "most people [paid] a normal retail price with very few trying to buy [the download version] for a penny" and that most fans had pre-ordered the disc box. Citing a source close to the band, Gigwise.com reported that by the day of its online release, the album had sold 1.2 million copies.
The claim, however, has been dismissed by band manager Bryce Edge as "exaggerated".
According to an Internet survey conducted by Record of the Day of 3,000 people, about one-third of people who downloaded the album paid nothing, with the average price paid being £4. When asked in a December 2007 interview by The Observer how many disc boxes were ordered, the band members responded with various answers ranging between 60,000 and 80,000. In October 2008, a report from Warner Chappell revealed that although most people paid nothing for the download, pre-release sales were more profitable than the total money from sales of Hail to the Thief. The report also stated that the disc box sold 100,000 copies.

The album's download and "disc box" sales were not eligible for inclusion in the UK Albums Chart because the website is not a chart-registered retailer. The week of its retail release, In Rainbows peaked at number one on the UK Album Chart, with first week sales of 44,602 copies. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number 156 due to street date violations, but reached number one on the chart the following week. The record sold 122,000 copies in the United States in its first week of official release, according to SoundScan. In October 2008, the band's publisher Warner Chappell Music Publishing revealed that the album had sold three million copies (including digital and physical format sales) since the album's physical release in January. The vinyl edition of In Rainbows was the top selling vinyl album of 2008.
Information found from wikipedia.
Tours:

October 08:
-Japan

August 08:
-USA
-Canada

July 08:
-Netherlands, Denmark,
-Belgium
-France
-Germany

June 08:
-Ireland
-France
-Spain
-Italy
-Germany
-England
-Scotland

May 08:
-USA

March 09:
-Mexico
-Brazil
-Argentina
-Chile

http://www.radiohead.com/tourdates/


Use of new technology:


- Used the internet for the listeners to download music
- By keeping a record of the downloader’s email addresses, they could market and advertise their work and news about gigs and tours, for example.
- It was cheaper for them to produce their own music and distribute it online, without a record company (allowing them to gain the profits). The advance in technology (computers and software) allowed them to do this.
- The internet allowed their music to globalise so more and more people could listen, resulting in them having more fans than the loyal ones they already had.
- Fans of their music could either download the music for free or they could pay for what they thought was a reasonable price.

The importance of audience:
There is a wide-spread audience due to the band starting early so over the years, there has been more and more people enjoying their music. The audience is made up of different ages, from young adults, to people around their 30’s. The band have succeeded on behalf of the profits from the downloads and the money from the numerous tours and festivals, for example, The Lovebox Weekender festival. The wider the audience is, the more support they have, so they can count on them for their profits.