Radiohead Takes Advantage of Digital Downloads

Radiohead, one of the largest alternative bands in the world, released their new studio album “In Rainbows” via their website. The entire album can be downloaded for as little as $.90 or as much as you decide to pay for it. Although we all know that the majority of people are going to download the album for the minimum price, Radiohead is turning their album into a promotional tool to gain visibility, build fan loyalty, increase merchandise sales, and increase concert ticket sales.

For example, Google searches for “Radiohead” increased ten fold since the announcement of their downloadable album, website traffic increase 11 fold according to HitWise and news coverage of the band has increased dramatically in recent days. Although the knife is being turned that was stabled into hearts of major labels years ago by Napster, Radiohead is gracefully leading the progression of the music industry into the digital era. In the last few days, bands like Oasis and Jamiroquai have expressed interest in following suite with Radiohead.