It’s been a while since Radiohead took the music world by storm with their novel “pay-what-you-like” approach to the release of their latest album, In Rainbows. During that time, there’s been lots of speculation as to the success of the idea from a commercial standpoint, and whether the model will be used more widely in future.#

Well, the results are finally in…

Warner Chappell, the rights holders for In Rainbows, have revealed that the album has (to date) sold a cool 3mln copies, including 1.75mln physical products (the CD and the box set thingy). They made more money from the pre-orders of In Rainbows then they have in total from their previous album, Hail To The Thief.

Also worth noting is that Warner Chappell are saying digital licensing for In Rainbows (from sites like last.fm, Pandora, etc) made a “material difference” to their bottom line.

So, we can definitely say that, as far as Radiohead and Warner Chappell are concerned at least, In Rainbows was a success. But judging whether that was down to being a better record, the “pay-what-you-like” model, or just the sheer publicity that the project generated, is more difficult to tell.

What they have proved though is that with just a little bit of ingenuity and a willing rights partner, the music industry can work in the modern world. And of course, it gives independent bands and musicians more ideas and concepts to try out for their own releases.

Why not get in touch and tell us if you’re trying something new with your next release?!

Sources for this article…
Radiohead - www.radiohead.com
Warner Chappell Music - www.warnerchappell.com
MusicAlly - www.musically.com