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Free: Music to fans’ ears
English band Coldplay is the latest in the music industry to employ unconventional techniques to sell music. Starting today, for one week fans can download a copy of the group’s new single Violet Hill–for free.
The download move follows a shift away from traditional sales by various acts last year.
Last June, Prince gave away copies of his album Planet Earth with the Mail on Sunday newspaper, and indie band The Charlatans gave away a free download of their new album on radio station XFM’s website.
In October, Radiohead let fans decide how much they wanted to pay to download their seventh studio album, In Rainbows, from their official website.
A free 7-inch vinyl single of Coldplay’s Violet Hill will also be given away on the cover of music weekly NME on 7 May.
The vinyl version will also include the track A Spell A Rebel Yell, which will not be available anywhere else.
What do you think about these marketing techniques, and what impact would they have on your buying habits?
back to top10 Comments to “Free: Music to fans’ ears”
I suspect this only works for a band that already makes a lot of money. It’s not working well for the writers I know.
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They might as well give their work away for free since the kids are just going to steal it anyway.
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On a similar note (no pun intended), many of the live musicians in Second Life® are selling their music in world while they are performing. When you attend their concert, they usually have a device next to them on stage on which you can click your mouse, and buy the songs through SL, not on the web. The song is downloaded directly on to your computer, and the musician gets instant feedback as to which of their songs are popular.
Some of these musicians are incredibly good, and are now making a career in the real world. Others are already somewhat established in real life, and just use this method to get some extra sales. At any rate, the record stores and the usual sales force is being completly bypassed.
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Correction, I shouldn’t have said that many SL® musicians are doing this, only a few; the rest are selling through their web sites, but still, not through the normal channels.
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I think it’s a wise move these bands are making. Radiohead made a lot money on In Rainbows because their loyal fans (including yours truly) were more than happy to “name their price” at a respectable amount. I could have downloaded it for free, but I’m happy to give them $5.
And that $5 is a lot more than they would have gotten by having it produced by a record label and sold in stores. Artists get hardly anything from record sales. All of their money comes from concerts and merchandise.
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Yup…I think it was Radiohead last year that did this. Suprisingly, many of the fans who downloaded the song also purchased the CD later on too. Money is made either way.
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Graceland nailed it — Radiohead and Coldplay will proabbly make more from concerts and merchandise than the few cents they get from a CD. The retail sale of CDs is not a great business model given today’s technology
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Horrible registering process. My email account wouldn’t show or receive the coldplay instructions until after the miserly 6 hour deadline to download.
Oh, and this is WAY different then Radiohead. Radiohead offered an ENTIRE album and gave at least a day to download. Coldplay is only offering a single. EMI keeps putting take down notices on Youtube as well for Violet Hill. They can’t keep up with the additions though so I listened to it on Youtube.
The song is not exactly ground breaking. I’m not impressed.
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btw, I downloaded the Radiohead album for free and then bought the CD when it came out.
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SL Franklin, I have a friend who actually makes a living creating and selling objects in SecondLife, as opposed to a traditional job.
It seems to be working out quite well for him, despite minor fluctuations in the linden/dollar exchange.
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