Radiohead’s experiment a success

A few weeks ago, the band Radiohead released their new album on their website. Fans of the band were allowed to download the album and requested to pay what they thought it was worth. A lot of fuss is being made over the fact that many of the people who downloaded the album paid nothing for it, and those who did pay something paid an average of only six U.S. dollars.

I'd like to see some analysis of how much the band is making on sales of the album, and how this profit compares to what they might have made if they had gone through the traditional channel of selling CDs through a major recording studio label.

In the media frenzy about how greedy people are to download the album without paying for it, what's getting overlooked is that the band is likely making more money on this album anyway. The band is not paying a red cent to a recording studio or publisher, so they get to keep all the profit for themselves. Considering how small a cut artists typically get in contacts with the major labels, Radiohead’s experiment has to be considered a success.