60% bought In Rainbows for free
Fans could pay anything they chose for In Rainbows.
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Wednesday, 07, Nov 2007 11:59
Radiohead's innovative internet-only release of their seventh album In Rainbows may have proved a financial disaster, according to new figures.
Internet research group ComScore found that more than 60 per cent of fans given the choice to pay whatever they liked for the album chose to pay nothing at all.
The band's decision to release the album for download, with fans able to specify the price they were willing to pay, was viewed as a brave attempt to redress the damaging effects of digital music piracy.
But despite the marketing brilliance of the campaign, just 38 per cent of fans downloading the album have parted with their money while the remaining 62 per cent of fans only paid the 45p handling charge.
In the 29 days after the album was made available on an exclusive download site over 1.2 million visited - the majority of whom downloaded the album.
Of the minority who were willing to pay, the average amount paid was just $6 (2.90), while only four per cent of people downloading In Rainbows paid over $12 (£5.80).
Radiohead released In Rainbows without a record label, but have recently signed a contract with XL Recordings for the physical release of the album.