By Jennifer Netherby
NEW YORK (Billboard) -
The two latest bands to offer their
new albums online for free are advancing divergent versions of
the business model Radiohead introduced in fall 2007.
Where Nine Inch Nails' approach, like Radiohead's before
it, draws fans in with free music and then offers additional
music for purchase in more extravagant configurations, the
Charlatans UK release doesn't seem connected to any such game
plan.
From the start, Nine Inch Nails planned to put out some
tracks for free and charge for others from its instrumental
album "Ghosts I-IV." NIN began giving away nine tracks on its
own Web site March 2 and uploaded those same tracks onto Pirate
Bay, where fans were encouraged to share the music. But fans
were given other options, too: $5 for a digital version of all
36 tracks from the album via Amazon or nin, $10 for a
double-CD, $75 for a deluxe edition or $300 for an ultra-deluxe
edition that includes a vinyl version and Trent Reznor's
autograph.
In the first week, the band says its release resulted in
more than 781,000 transactions, including free and paid
downloads and physical preorders. Though NIN didn't break out
sales by format beyond that figure, the band does say that
pre-orders sold out all 2,500 copies of the $300
limited-edition release. Sales through nin topped $1.6
million in the first week, and digital sales though Amazon on
the first day of release totaled $1 million, according to the
band's manager, Jim Guerinot.
Guerinot, for his part, insists that the free offerings
weren't meant as a quid pro quo to get fans to buy the album.
"The only strategy behind it was (Reznor's) notion for how he
would do this as a fan and what would he want to see as a fan,"
Guerinot says.
Still, in contrast with the NIN release, the Charlatans UK
seem to be putting out their free album without a playbook. The
band partnered with U.K. radio station XFM to deliver an MP3
version of "You Cross My Path," which the band says was
downloaded 60,000 times in the first week.
Frontman Tim Burgess speculates that fans attained
additional copies through torrent sites. The Charlatans UK and
XFM have no revenue-sharing plan for future releases; at this
point, they're merely using each other for purposes of
promotion. The band carried the cost of recording, while XFM
handled the digital distribution for free.
The Charlatans UK will also put out "You Cross My Path" in
CD, double-CD and vinyl versions May 12 through Cooking Vinyl.
But even those releases came as an afterthought, says Burgess,
who adds that the band expects to make money on touring and
merchandise.
"If people get a chance to have our music," he says, "they
might be interested to come out and see us play live."
NIN and the Charlatans UK decided to go free after leaving
major labels, following the path carved when Radiohead released
"In Rainbows" on a pay-what-you-want basis on its Web site last
fall. NIN's contract with Interscope expired in October, and
the Charlatans UK decided not to sign with Universal after that
major bought and closed Sanctuary, which put out the band's
last release, "Simpatico."
Reuters/Billboard
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