Saturday, November 17, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
In Rainbows: My thoughts on Radiohead’s honesty box approach
You Can’t Put A Price On Art
If we ask, what is an album leak worth? The obvious answer depends on the content of the album. So what is a highly anticipated seventh album from the world’s greatest rock group worth? That would be asking to put a price on a piece of art.
How can you price-tag music? The recording industry has established itself by setting a fixed price for each album, with disregard of its greatness or mediocrity, so it is known exactly how much grossing profit will be earned; therefore the business succeeds in operation.
With Radiohead’s new approach to distribute their new album In Rainbows, their argument states that it isn’t all about money: you can’t put a price on greatness. It is a bold attitude (and a generous one) that signifies commitment to art instead of just business, like music fans like myself strongly believe in. But then asking their fans to put a price on a record they haven’t heard yet seems a bit short-sighted, so it all comes down to trust and loyalty, and these are the key characteristics to building and maintaining your audience.
For Radiohead fans, who are some of the most die-hard you can get (me included), it would be second nature to buy the album, and whether I’ve heard it or not, it would still be in my collection. I didn’t put any price down for the download because I knew I’d be buying the box set in December, and thus, I have earned their trust. Even if I was indifferent to Radiohead, I wouldn’t put down any price until I’d heard it (unless it was going to a good cause), in which case I would wait until the physical copy came out next year, and if it was good, I would buy that. It would be apt if you can go back to the download page once you’ve heard it and pay how much you think it deserves, like a ‘try before you buy’ initiative.
But the question remains, how long are they going to keep the download online for? This then goes back to the trustworthiness of the consumer, which Radiohead are basing their experiment on.
With this download idea, everyone (who has an internet connection) will hear it at the same time. But then that could be a bad thing because you’re establishing a set moment for your audience to hear your music, and it shouldn’t have to work like that. The best musical experiences happen spontaneously when you’re least conscious of the listening activity, like hearing a song at a wedding or a school disco which is perfect for that moment, which subsequently becomes most memorable and personal to you.
Bear in mind that Radiohead want this record to be brought into the mass marketplace so if they go on to make more millions than they did even without a record label, they could in fact become the most powerful quintet in the world and this would (hopefully) signal the end of record labels and record retailers: Revolution!
This isn’t the first time a band has taken a big step away from their record label by releasing their record online for free, but the significance is in Radiohead’s reputation and their gargantuan fan-base, which stretches globally. Radiohead have once experimented with anti-commercial marketing with Kid A when they decided not to release any singles or videos (the album incidentally topped charts on both sides of the Atlantic), and their first album release without a label couldn’t have come at a worse time for record companies, with music listeners continuing to illegally download music instead of buying it, and finding out that one of their biggest selling bands are choosing to experiment with sole-marketing is a kick in the teeth for them. The reliance on record companies and marketing teams to produce, commercialize and promote music records needs reconsideration for the modern age, and I believe this could be the change.
The ‘honesty box’ strategy is symbolic of the industry’s direction towards the digital market, but there are difficult problems putting down a price on electronic data. The most important difference between a CD and a digital download is that one is a real physical object that you can hold in your hand and the other isn’t. Frankly, it’s better to own a physical copy than a digital one, and despite some benefits of digital downloads such as accessibility and playability, this mentality will never change.
If I was to pay for the download, then I should be able to get the physical copy free because I have already made my contribution to the product - So what about paying what you want for physical copies? Packaging and material cost aside, like a download, like music, it just doesn’t have a value. In truth, it’s all about time and who can wait for the real thing. In any case, bands aren’t fully reliant on album sales when they’re playing concerts to bring in the wages, but how long will it be until they let you pay what you want to see a live show?
Above all, Radiohead have looked beyond the commercial potentials of In Rainbows and embraced their audience before everything else, which is fundamentally what making music in a band is all about: Sharing intimately the most important value to the entire world.
If we ask, what is an album leak worth? The obvious answer depends on the content of the album. So what is a highly anticipated seventh album from the world’s greatest rock group worth? That would be asking to put a price on a piece of art.
How can you price-tag music? The recording industry has established itself by setting a fixed price for each album, with disregard of its greatness or mediocrity, so it is known exactly how much grossing profit will be earned; therefore the business succeeds in operation.
With Radiohead’s new approach to distribute their new album In Rainbows, their argument states that it isn’t all about money: you can’t put a price on greatness. It is a bold attitude (and a generous one) that signifies commitment to art instead of just business, like music fans like myself strongly believe in. But then asking their fans to put a price on a record they haven’t heard yet seems a bit short-sighted, so it all comes down to trust and loyalty, and these are the key characteristics to building and maintaining your audience.
For Radiohead fans, who are some of the most die-hard you can get (me included), it would be second nature to buy the album, and whether I’ve heard it or not, it would still be in my collection. I didn’t put any price down for the download because I knew I’d be buying the box set in December, and thus, I have earned their trust. Even if I was indifferent to Radiohead, I wouldn’t put down any price until I’d heard it (unless it was going to a good cause), in which case I would wait until the physical copy came out next year, and if it was good, I would buy that. It would be apt if you can go back to the download page once you’ve heard it and pay how much you think it deserves, like a ‘try before you buy’ initiative.
But the question remains, how long are they going to keep the download online for? This then goes back to the trustworthiness of the consumer, which Radiohead are basing their experiment on.
With this download idea, everyone (who has an internet connection) will hear it at the same time. But then that could be a bad thing because you’re establishing a set moment for your audience to hear your music, and it shouldn’t have to work like that. The best musical experiences happen spontaneously when you’re least conscious of the listening activity, like hearing a song at a wedding or a school disco which is perfect for that moment, which subsequently becomes most memorable and personal to you.
Bear in mind that Radiohead want this record to be brought into the mass marketplace so if they go on to make more millions than they did even without a record label, they could in fact become the most powerful quintet in the world and this would (hopefully) signal the end of record labels and record retailers: Revolution!
This isn’t the first time a band has taken a big step away from their record label by releasing their record online for free, but the significance is in Radiohead’s reputation and their gargantuan fan-base, which stretches globally. Radiohead have once experimented with anti-commercial marketing with Kid A when they decided not to release any singles or videos (the album incidentally topped charts on both sides of the Atlantic), and their first album release without a label couldn’t have come at a worse time for record companies, with music listeners continuing to illegally download music instead of buying it, and finding out that one of their biggest selling bands are choosing to experiment with sole-marketing is a kick in the teeth for them. The reliance on record companies and marketing teams to produce, commercialize and promote music records needs reconsideration for the modern age, and I believe this could be the change.
The ‘honesty box’ strategy is symbolic of the industry’s direction towards the digital market, but there are difficult problems putting down a price on electronic data. The most important difference between a CD and a digital download is that one is a real physical object that you can hold in your hand and the other isn’t. Frankly, it’s better to own a physical copy than a digital one, and despite some benefits of digital downloads such as accessibility and playability, this mentality will never change.
If I was to pay for the download, then I should be able to get the physical copy free because I have already made my contribution to the product - So what about paying what you want for physical copies? Packaging and material cost aside, like a download, like music, it just doesn’t have a value. In truth, it’s all about time and who can wait for the real thing. In any case, bands aren’t fully reliant on album sales when they’re playing concerts to bring in the wages, but how long will it be until they let you pay what you want to see a live show?
Above all, Radiohead have looked beyond the commercial potentials of In Rainbows and embraced their audience before everything else, which is fundamentally what making music in a band is all about: Sharing intimately the most important value to the entire world.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
My First Proms
SATURDAY 25 AUGUST - Prom 55
Royal Albert Hall
Wagner
Parsifal – Prelude to Act I and Good Friday Music (24 mins)
Debussy
Three Nocturnes (25 mins)
Interval
Debussy, orch. Rudolf Escher
Six épigraphes antiques (15 mins)
Wagner
Tristan and Isolde – Prelude and Liebestod (17 mins)
Tenebrae (women's voices)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Bernard Haitink (conductor)
Royal Albert Hall
Wagner
Parsifal – Prelude to Act I and Good Friday Music (24 mins)
Debussy
Three Nocturnes (25 mins)
Interval
Debussy, orch. Rudolf Escher
Six épigraphes antiques (15 mins)
Wagner
Tristan and Isolde – Prelude and Liebestod (17 mins)
Tenebrae (women's voices)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Bernard Haitink (conductor)
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Latitude Diary
Latitude Festival 12th-16th July 2007
Attendees: Glen Rowlan & Scott Rowlan
Review by Glen Rowlan
THURSDAY
16:00 – Arrived at the site, set up tent (we were stopped at the door because we had glass bottles so we poured all our beer into plastic bottles)
Lake Stage
19:00 – Screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Lodger’ accompanied by live orchestra, conducted by Robert Ziegler (Introduction by Mark Kermode)
Back to the tent for BBQ
Poetry Tent
22:00 – Aisle16 & Friends
We check out a really cool ethnic instruments stall
Music & Film Arena
23:00 – Beautiful & The Damned DJ’s
1:00 – Daft Punk’s Electroma
I trip over a log, then we go back to the tent
FRIDAY
We pass a small stage on the lake with an acoustic duo covering Bob the Builder
Uncut Stage
12:30 – Grace (short visit)
Comedy Tent
12:00 – Kevin Day
13:00 – Jon Richardson
13:30 – Russel Howard
14:30 – Mark Steel
15:30 – Paul Tonkinson
16:30 – Bill Bailey
I got ham but i'm not a hamster
Obelisk Stage
17:30 – Midlake
Lake Stage
18:30 – Metronomy (in the hot sun)
Obelisk Stage
19:30 – The Magic Numbers (caught the last song)
20:00 – Wilco
21:30 – Damien Rice (short visit)
Uncut Stage
21:45 – Partick Wolf (short visit)
Dinnertime/Stall Shopping… Scott buys a Wilco t-shirt
Comedy Tent
22:30 – Guilty Pleasures
Poetry Tent
1:00 – Aisle16 & Friends (short visit)
SATURDAY
Comedy Tent
12:00 – Sarah Millican
12:30 – Matt Welcome
13:00 – Lee Mack
14:00 – Russell Kane
15:00 – Paul Zenon
15:30 – Dylan Moran
Obelisk Stage
16:00 – Herman Dune (caught the last song)
16:30 – Bat for Lashes
17:30 – The Hold Steady
Walking through the woods, we caught bit of a theatre group performing The Tempest
Sunrise Arena
18:30 – Simple Kid
Obelisk Stage
20:00 – CSS
We head back to the tent and we get a fire going and chat to the neighbours (three of whom went to Keele)
Comedy Tent
00:00 – Guilty Pleasures
We realise the music is really crap at Guilty Pleasures so we go for a dance at the Lake Stage, and someone compliments my dancing
SUNDAY
Queuing up at the Deli, I buy a Latitude t-shirt
Sunrise Arena
12:30 – Peter And The Wolf
Uncut Stage
14:10 – Ra Ra Riot (short visit)
We eat lunch by the uncut stage and we see Charlie, the hubbabubba nightmare chewing gum
Obelisk Stage
14:30 – Au Revoir Simone
15:30 – Andrew Bird (fell asleep)
16:30 – The National (after this we go to buy some funky green glasses)
17:30 – Cold War Kids
18:30 – The Rapture
20:00 – Jarvis Cocker
21:30 – Arcade Fire
No Cars Go was the best moment of the festival for me... i just went crazy
We chill out by the lake stage, eating BBQ food
Comedy Tent
23:00 – Guilty Pleasures
Literary Tent
23:30 – Robin book club (short visit)
Short visit to the woods for a rave, then back to the tent
MONDAY
While we’re packing up the tent a swarm of bees pass over our heads
13:00 – Head home
Attendees: Glen Rowlan & Scott Rowlan
Review by Glen Rowlan
THURSDAY
16:00 – Arrived at the site, set up tent (we were stopped at the door because we had glass bottles so we poured all our beer into plastic bottles)
Lake Stage
19:00 – Screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Lodger’ accompanied by live orchestra, conducted by Robert Ziegler (Introduction by Mark Kermode)
Back to the tent for BBQ
Poetry Tent
22:00 – Aisle16 & Friends
We check out a really cool ethnic instruments stall
Music & Film Arena
23:00 – Beautiful & The Damned DJ’s
1:00 – Daft Punk’s Electroma
I trip over a log, then we go back to the tent
FRIDAY
We pass a small stage on the lake with an acoustic duo covering Bob the Builder
Uncut Stage
12:30 – Grace (short visit)
Comedy Tent
12:00 – Kevin Day
13:00 – Jon Richardson
13:30 – Russel Howard
14:30 – Mark Steel
15:30 – Paul Tonkinson
16:30 – Bill Bailey
I got ham but i'm not a hamster
Obelisk Stage
17:30 – Midlake
Lake Stage
18:30 – Metronomy (in the hot sun)
Obelisk Stage
19:30 – The Magic Numbers (caught the last song)
20:00 – Wilco
21:30 – Damien Rice (short visit)
Uncut Stage
21:45 – Partick Wolf (short visit)
Dinnertime/Stall Shopping… Scott buys a Wilco t-shirt
Comedy Tent
22:30 – Guilty Pleasures
Poetry Tent
1:00 – Aisle16 & Friends (short visit)
SATURDAY
Comedy Tent
12:00 – Sarah Millican
12:30 – Matt Welcome
13:00 – Lee Mack
14:00 – Russell Kane
15:00 – Paul Zenon
15:30 – Dylan Moran
Obelisk Stage
16:00 – Herman Dune (caught the last song)
16:30 – Bat for Lashes
17:30 – The Hold Steady
Walking through the woods, we caught bit of a theatre group performing The Tempest
Sunrise Arena
18:30 – Simple Kid
Obelisk Stage
20:00 – CSS
We head back to the tent and we get a fire going and chat to the neighbours (three of whom went to Keele)
Comedy Tent
00:00 – Guilty Pleasures
We realise the music is really crap at Guilty Pleasures so we go for a dance at the Lake Stage, and someone compliments my dancing
SUNDAY
Queuing up at the Deli, I buy a Latitude t-shirt
Sunrise Arena
12:30 – Peter And The Wolf
Uncut Stage
14:10 – Ra Ra Riot (short visit)
We eat lunch by the uncut stage and we see Charlie, the hubbabubba nightmare chewing gum
Obelisk Stage
14:30 – Au Revoir Simone
15:30 – Andrew Bird (fell asleep)
16:30 – The National (after this we go to buy some funky green glasses)
17:30 – Cold War Kids
18:30 – The Rapture
20:00 – Jarvis Cocker
21:30 – Arcade Fire
No Cars Go was the best moment of the festival for me... i just went crazy
We chill out by the lake stage, eating BBQ food
Comedy Tent
23:00 – Guilty Pleasures
Literary Tent
23:30 – Robin book club (short visit)
Short visit to the woods for a rave, then back to the tent
MONDAY
While we’re packing up the tent a swarm of bees pass over our heads
13:00 – Head home
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Friday, July 06, 2007
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