Radiohead criticised over download strategy

13-03-2008

by Charlie Taylor

While REM has become the latest group to debut new material online, NIN's Trent Reznor has accused Radiohead of manipulating music fans through its use of the web.

Speaking on ABC News earlier this week, the Nine Inch Nails frontman paid the Oxford-based band a backhanded compliment when he praised them for choosing to by-pass the traditional music distribution network and release their last album, In Rainbows, via the internet.

However, he also claimed that by releasing inferior quality versions of the album's tracks online, Radiohead had stoked up demand for the physical release of the music.

"What they did was a cool thing; I think the way they parlayed it into a marketing gimmick has certainly been shrewd. But if you look at what they did, though, it was very much a bait and switch to get you to pay for a MySpace-quality stream as a way to promote a very traditional record sale," said Reznor.

Nine Inch Nails has also experimented with releasing music online rather than through the traditional music machine, with the group's last opus, Ghosts I-IV, available to download from its website with prices ranging from free for a limited version of the album to USD300 for the deluxe one.

Although Reznor approves of Radiohead's decision to launch In Rainbows online, he expressed anger over the fact that unlike Nine Inch Nails, who he said offered high-quality downloadable files and a PDF book, Thom Yorke's band didn't.

"What they did right: they surprised the world with a new record, and it was available digitally first. What they did wrong: by making it such a low-quality thing, not even including artwork... to me that feels insincere," said Reznor.

Whatever one thinks of Reznor's comments about Radiohead, his decision to release his latest album online has certainly paid dividends. According to new figures, Ghosts I-IV, which was only released on 2 March, is believed to have generated USD1.6 million in revenue in its first week alone.

Meanwhile, REM is also tipping its toes into online waters by linking up with the social music discovery service, iLike. Accelerate, the band's 14th studio album, will stream in its entirety exclusively on the service and its syndicates from 24 March, a week before the physical release of the music.

REM is also recording an exclusive video message introducing and discussing the album that will be available via iLike for distribution across the web.

As well as listening to the complete album in its entirety, iLike users will also be able to embed Accelerate on their Facebook, MySpace and Bebo profile pages.

In a rapidly changing music industry, other bands are watching with keen interest to see how Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and REM get on with their web strategies. David Bowie, who has only one album left to deliver on his current record deal, and Oasis, who released their latest single, Lord Don't Slow Me Down, as a STG0.99 download only and have no record contract, are both believed to be considering a web approach. Last June, Northern Irish band Ash announced that their sixth album, Twilight of the Innocents, would be their last. The band said they would be focusing on releasing single tracks over the internet rather than forcing fans to wait years between albums.