The Associated Press ran a story Jan. 9 about the album In Rainbows, touting the new CD release as No. 1 on the charts. The story notes the original marketing strategy—sort of a non-strategy-strategy, really. The album was released as a digital download. Customers could pay what they wanted to or not pay at all. The AP says the British alt-rock group Radiohead “declined” to say how many copies were moved by the digital download offer, or how much money was made in that effort. But Wired magazine got the scoop, in an interview with Radiohead front guy Thom Yorke. Yorke told the magazine (Jan. issue) the digital download brought the band nearly $3 million net.

When Radiohead announced the digital download offer, the strategy went against every rule of marketing. The group self-produced the album. Media carried announcements about the digital release, and because the band has a strong fan base, Yorke told Wired they avoided sending advance releases to media. He said for the band, “it’s totally the luck of the draw” whether a person is into the music or not. Publicity came in raw form—word of mouth, Web sites, social networks. So the band makes history and sets a new example for artists who know their fan base and more importantly, know how to connect the brand with the base. The band’s prior successes by conventional marketing and producing were central in this strategy—first you need the base, then you can go radical on distribution and marketing. Yorke noted methods like the digital download offer are good for musicians because big record companies “have no idea what to do with them now, anyway.” With successful CD sales after the original download offer, it appears the band knows exactly what fans are after. There’s a lot of psychology involved in getting a person to pay if he or she doesn’t have to, don’t you agree?

Technorati Tags: Kay B. Day, Beneath the Brand, Talent Zoo, Radiohead, marketing, music marketing

Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Music Marketing