Survival of the Fittest

The music industry is changing, and only the strongest will survive. Who will it be? I’d put my bet on Radiohead.

Radiohead is releasing a new album this month, their first since 2003’s Hail to the Thief, titled In Rainbows, and at the moment it is only available online at a tailor-made website. Having fulfilled their contract with EMI, the band is now free from the restrictions of a record label, and that fact is quite obvious in their new sales and distribution scheme. Fans have two options:

1. Order a digital download, which will become available on October 10th, and when you checkout, there is a form where you enter how much you want to pay. That’s right. “It’s up to you,” as the website says. Pay nothing, or pay $100 — whatever it is worth to you.
2. Order a “discbox” at the cost of £40 and receive: the album on a CD, the album on two 12-inch heavyweight vinyl records, an artwork booklet, a lyrics booklet, and an enhanced CD containing more new songs, digital photographs, and artwork. To top it all off, everything is encased in a hardcover book and slipcase, and you automatically receive the digital download on October 10th. Discboxes will ship on or before December 3rd. This is a sweet deal.

It’s great to see a band acting intelligently and embracing the inexorable changes in the music industry rather than fighting in vain against them.

Sure, there will be people that download the album at no charge, but at least they will be hearing the music at the quality at which Radiohead intended it to be heard. An artist’s work is the artist. Without the work (i.e., the music), the artist does not exist. Radiohead realizes this, and they also realize that piracy cannot be stopped, try as the RIAA might. Therefore, if your work is going to be taken at no charge, you might as well let it be taken in its finest form lest you want shitty copies of your handcrafted masterpiece circulating the globe while others, besides yourself, profit (e.g., sellers of pirated CDs).

I believe, however, that a majority of people will offer at least some money in exchange for Radiohead’s new album. Their fanbase largely consists of those that might be categorized as hardcore, and a great many of said fans will gladly put up £40 for the incredible discbox that Radiohead has assembled for their new release. Enough, in fact, to make up for the stingy that pay nothing, the moderate fans that pay a couple pounds, and the loyal fans that are willing to put down an amount equivalent to the current price of an album, but don’t want the elaborate discbox.

Don’t forget, too, that Radiohead is not tied to a record label anymore, and that digital distribution costs next to nothing compared to putting out thousands of physical CDs. According to the website, discboxes are being made to order, so that’s all profit as well. The middleman is gone, and Radiohead is in place to reap the benefits of their work.

Another musician that has recently taken steps to release his work according to his agenda, rather than that of a record label, is Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Earlier this month, in China, he urged his fans to download his music for free off the Internet rather than purchasing it on pirated CDs.

Our music is easy to find on the Internet, and you might not need to spend much effort to find most of our songs. If you like our songs after you’ve heard them, please feel free to share it with your friends. As I have put all my effort and heart into my music, I sincerely hope that more and more people can share the enjoyment with us.

Perhaps the reason that record labels and the RIAA are so opposed to change, unlike Radiohead and Trent Reznor, is because they know that a large percentage of their profit relies on the sale of faddish, quickly manufactured, easily forgotten Top 40 hits.

Let’s be honest. If the record labels released Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” for free (currently the number two most purchased song on iTunes), who on earth would pay a dollar for it? Not me! Have I heard it? Sure. Is it a fun listen at college parties? Of course. But am I going to spend a dollar on it rather than download it for free when I know that I will have forgotten about it and never want to hear it again in a couple weeks? Hell no.

Radiohead and Trent Reznor, on the other hand, are true artists. They are craftsmen, experts at their trade. They have spent years recording extraordinary music and building up dedicated fanbases. Their fans stick with them through the years and, even in the face of extended absences, are the first ones to perk up their ears when they hear that their favorite artist is back in town (figuratively, as well as literally).

In a world where piracy is inevitable, only true artists like these can survive. It’s not enough to simply make a good song and expect people to eat it up at a dollar a pop. Now, the music must be better, the experience longer lasting, the connection between artist and audience more authentic. Then, only then, will people ignore the $0.00 price tag and slip you a few under the table. Not because they feel bad, but because you’ve earned it.