Un article tres interessant du Financial Times qui nous dit que le manager de Radiohead espere simplement vendre "In Rainbows" au minimum 2 fois a tout le monde. Je ne fais donc pas de soucis pour leur compte en banque. Un poil decevant cette histoire..... Ah et ils sont aussi en pourparlers avec les majors pour la sortie CD de l'album en Janvier et un possible retour chez EMI ????? Desinformation ou desenchantement ?
Radiohead MP3 release a tactic to lift CD saleshttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0a9c779a-7797-11dc-9de8-0000779fd2ac.htmlBy Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in London
Published: October 11 2007 03:00 | Last updated: October 11 2007 03:00
Radiohead's much-debated decision to let fans choose what they pay for its new album online is a promotional tactic to boost sales of compact discs, the band's management said yesterday.
"If we didn't believe that when people hear the music they will want to buy the CD, then we wouldn't do what we are doing," Bryce Edge of Courtyard Management told Music Week, the UK's industry magazine.
The decision to release In Rainbows online and to allow buyers to pay as little as they like has been lauded by some analysts as a ground-breaking model for an industry struggling to compete with free illegal downloads.
As many as half of those who registered for the download had paid more than the minimum 45p transaction fee, Mr Edge indicated, but he described the initiative as "a solution for Radiohead, not the industry", and defended the superior quality of CD recordings.
"You can't listen to a Radiohead record on MP3 [the digital music file standard] and hear the detail; it's impossible," Mr Edge said. "We can't understand why record companies don't go on the offensive and say what a great piece of kit CDs are. CDs are undervalued and sold too cheaply."
Radiohead will release the album on CD in January, and its managers hinted that the physical version might contain more material.
The band is already offering a £40 ($82) package of two CDs, two vinyl albums and a booklet.
The boxed set is sold only on its website, allowing the band to fix its price, Mr Edge admitted. "We can't control how much Tesco will sell [a typical CD] for, nor can the record companies."
Although Radiohead's decision to sell direct to fans has been seen as a blow to the traditional music industry, its managers are in discussions with the four large record companies - Universal Music, Sony BMG, Warner Music and EMI - for help with the January CD release.
Guy Hands, whose Terra Firma private equity group bought EMI this summer, has met Radiohead's management to discuss bringing the group back to EMI Music, which issued its 2003 album Hail To The Thief . Warner Chappell, Warner Music's publishing arm, is also collecting royalties on the downloads.
Chris Hufford of Courtyard told Music Week: "We might put a box on the site to allow people to donate after hearing it."
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007