In an interesting bit of synchronicity, two of my favorite artistic enjoyments became available to me yesterday on a pay-what-you-want basis. First, the Shakespeare Theater in Washington, DC held its inaugural "pay-what-you-can" performance, a truly clever interpretation of "Taming of the Shrew."
This generosity is not surprising for the patron-funded arts organization, which also extends complimentary standing room-only admission as well as $10 student tickets for performances that typically cost from $23 to $50, prices that are nonetheless bargains for live theater.
What is more surprising is the second incident of pay-what-you-will. Radiohead, the Brit-rock, indie-alternative band, announced yesterday that it will directly release its new album as a digital download on its own website, allowing fans to pay what they want.
Indeed, the shopping basket check-out option on the Radiohead website leaves blank the price of the new 10-song album, "In Rainbows," with a question mark next to the empty price that, when clicked, says "It's Up to You." That statement also has a question mark next to it that, when clicked, says, "No Really. It's Up to You."
Radiohead, which hasn't released an album since 2003 and is currently without a record label, is clearly pushing the envelope in online music sales, skipping altogether the hot sites for music downloads (Radiohead has never released its music via iTunes) and going directly to fans. Not only that, but the band is also banking on fans to pay a "fair" price for the music.
My guess is that Radiohead, which tends to appeal to, well, educated, thoughtful people, may very well succeed with this experiment given the nature of its fan base. As was the case (unfortunately) with the "pay-what-you-can" Shakespeare Theater performance yesterday, (the audience was filled primarily with seemingly prosperous theatergoers who probably could afford to pay full ticket prices), Radiohead's albums will likely be downloaded by those who can pay reasonably close to prevailing music download prices.
Radiohead will probably come out ahead with this gambit, particularly given that the group is also selling a collectors-type physical version of the album that costs $82. And it won't have to split the revenues with a record label.
But, Radiohead's example won't likely fit many other types of bands and although interesting, isn't likely to be replicated for truly mass appeal musicians. Big pop acts (say, Justin Timberlake) couldn't afford to follow this example. For one thing, record labels are usually involved. For another, even if record companies weren't calling the shots, too much money would be left on the table if millions of fans were allowed to dictate prices. That's probably not the case with Radiohead.
Cynthia Brumfield at 7:44 AM|Comments(0)
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