Radiohead Consumers Speak: Downloads Brought Down-Low Pricing

British Alt-rockers RADIOHEAD turned many a head after announcing it would let its fans decide what to pay for downloads of its new "In Rainbows" album. In a just-released poll conducted by COMSCORE, INC., those consumers basically said that the band's music was worth, to put it mildly, pennies on the dollar.

Approximately 62% of the people who downloaded "In Rainbows" over the course of one month opted paid nothing for it outside of handling charges. The remaining 38% voluntarily paid an average of $6, which is less than half the price of a CD in a brick-and mortar store -- and 40% cheaper than buying it off iTUNES. By combining tthe 62% who didn't pay for the album with those who paid an average of $6, it comes out to about $2 and change per album download.

If it's any consolation, American consumers are slightly more conscientious in paying RADIOHEAD than fans anywhere. Of the 40% of Americans who actually paid for the music, the average donation was $8.05. Only 36% of fans outside the U.S. paid for the music -- and those that did only coughed up $4.64.

If these figures accurately portray this experiment, bands that consider doing this in the future should realize at the get-go that they're primarily recording music to sell concert tickets.

« see more Net News