Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

Buzz aside, without the buildup over the past decade+ using the old/traditional music business model (major label, paying for music, etc.) Radiohead would never have been in this position.

Kudos to them on bucking the system, their creative approach, trying something new, but we don't think this is the panacea the music industry has been lusting for. Part of the future, sure... but the world aboslutely needs more music that is actually worth buying, sharing, and telling others about with fanatical religious conviction.

Your challenge to create something that people will feel compelled to voluntarily spend their hard-earned money on has not fallen on deaf ears, however. A critical and timely message!

Daniel,

Nor has your point fallen on deaf ears - an indie rocker in their basement might have trouble pulling this off and the long term question, even for a Radiohead, is this a sustainable model certainly comes to mind.

I have shared this link with about 2500 Florists and we will be brainstorming on ways to possibly implement a "voluntary pay what you think it's worth" model.
I think it has possibilities, especially to create that buzz that is needed in any industry.
Thanks John.

I think bucking the trend is the new trend. I read this week that Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails is also kicking his record label to the curb. So are indie rockers "...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead".

You say you want a revolution...

Ok, great comments about the music business, but what about other industries - could a service business do this - pay us what you think it's worth?

I think that for a "Pay-what-it's-worth" strategy to be effective you have to have a strong, personal relationship with your customers (Brand Building anyone?). The most interesting thing about this model is that in the music industry there are already a number of examples where artists have done this and make more on average then iTunes (although possibly offset with lower volume?). I think that the key is building a relationship with your customers.....

I co-founded a site SongSlide - www.songslide.com - almost a year ago that has been letting musicians sell their music and letting fans pick the price they pay for it.
It's been working great!
Fans having been showing their support and musicians have been making money.
This is the direction the music industry is headed.

Unfortunately they seem to have managed to make it backfire and upset some of their best customers i.e. dedicated fans.

This is a exert from my Live journal Monday Oct 8th. (with edits to protect the innocent)

I think maybe this could put the record industry on its ass a bit. In this, the 21st century music and even video is not a tangible like it used to be. With it so easily attainable to the masses, all just floating around in the ether and junk. Maybe it has become obvious that to sell a packaged album these days you must supply the purchaser with "stuff". In a lot of ways, the bigger the band the more and better the stuff should be. You know t-shirts, buttons, art, booklets, patches, stickers, stuff like that all put into a cool box. Besides. it's all promotional right.
Has music's value deflated or have the record companies just been jacking us up for this long and the masses maybe hadn't thought about it. No and yes is my answer in that order. I still believe in buying music (As a musician who hopes to sell some of my own some day, I'd be stupid not to.) I believe that buying a disc or a download makes you as much of a patron of the arts as going to see the band play live. I don't believe that intelligent people think that music can survive if musicians cannot make a living. Seriously, great music and its success cannot exist when the band has to work a full timer at the corner Jack In The Box and you certainly won't be able to see them in your town if they cannot afford to tour. Get what I mean? And it can be done without record companies if we rearrange our thinking about spending our money.
Radiohead lets you decide how much to pay for a download of there new album because they really don't need the money and they will make some cash charging about $60-$80 (American, if i converted correctly from the pound) for the groovy box version of it with "stuff". But what I want to know is; if you found a great new band out there who were not millionaire rock stars and they let you decide how much to pay for their download-able album, how much would you be willing to pay? How much, knowing that you will be helping this band not only keep excising to create more but maybe you will be helping them get out into the world, where you are, to play their music live, maybe for you, if you actually get out from in front of your computer and go out. And by paying to see their show you will help them make an even better living so they can have families and health care, be able to afford rehab and make another record. Even more exciting than that, by paying some price, of your choice, for art, you and this band could be a driving force for change in the world. Yes, I want to know now, how much?
{Let's say, it was your friends band ... How much then would you pay?}
Will Radiohead change the world with this release technique? Maybe a little, I hope a lot . Should we support this idea? I do. You should as well. Did I pay for my download? No, I am a broke student right now. Will I buy the box when it comes out? Probly, eventually, when i have the cash. With all of those questions put aside I can firmly say that if your band let me decide how much to pay to download your new album (and I dug your music, right), I would pay no less than $1 a song and this seems to be the consciences of anyone I have asked. I would also hope to get a sticker or something when in the mail since you made me sign up for your mailing list before I could complete the download. If you came to my town I would probly even drop a 10er to watch you and maybe a another 10er for a t-shirt, if you have my size and it was cool looking.
The point here is are you ready to change the world. Remember, the money you spend maybe the money you someday make or at least the art you may save.

This is the point of view I feel many people are not looking at and I wish they would.

Cheers,
BAMMBAMM
Seattle WA USA

has something like this ever been done by an ad agency?

I've worked with graphic designers on this basis before... it was a long while ago, too. Late 90s.

Having a pre-existing relationship always helps... might even be necessary. Radiohead and NIN benefit from the installed base of fans (as mentioned), and my graphic designer connections were relationships where there was an established trust.

I wonder if this is viable at all while you're building trust, expanding those relationships... ???