If The Major Record Labels Tried To Adopt The 'Radiohead' Model...

from the laugh,-it's-funny dept

Thu, Sep 30th 2010 12:22pm — Mike Masnick

A whole bunch of you have been sending in the recent Toothpaste for Dinner cartoon about how the RIAA/major record labels would "adopt the Radiohead model" if they ever really thought about it:

While it is amusing, there's a lot of truth behind that comic (which is part of what makes it funny). We keep seeing people misleadingly claim that if you talk about "free" in one context, you must mean everything should be free. That kind of thinking comes out of the labels all too often, so you could totally see them saying that "well, if pay what you want is supposed to work for buying music, why not for paying people..."

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Filed Under: business models, comics, radiohead model

8 Comments

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Rikuo (profile), 30 Sep 2010 @ 12:28pm

But haven't the record labels/collection agencies already done this, by deliberately keeping money that is supposed to go to the artists?
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Zacqary Adam Green (profile), 30 Sep 2010 @ 12:52pm

It's funny because it's already true.
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Jay (profile), 30 Sep 2010 @ 1:28pm

Hello radios
We already have that model.

It's called payola. It's why FM radio is down in the dumpster in regards to actual music to discover new artists.
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Karl, 30 Sep 2010 @ 2:13pm

If??!?!
The record labels are *already* doing this, and have been for as long as I can remember.

http://boingboing.net/2009/12/07/major-record-labels.html
http://www.negativland.com/a lbini.html
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090602/2308085105.shtml
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R. Miles (profile), 30 Sep 2010 @ 2:19pm

Re: If??!?!
The record labels are *already* doing this
I do believe the point is most record labels cook the books so that "free" IS what they're paying them.

At least, that's how I read the comic.
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 30 Sep 2010 @ 4:13pm

The way it works now is like this:

The labels loan you money.
They make you pay for everything with your loan.
They take all of the profits, from the money that you invested.
Now you owe them money.

So, I think this would probably be an improvement.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Oct 2010 @ 8:35am

Re: Re: If??!?!
I thought most bands were PAYING to be on a record lable... Between advances and fees and everything else, bands tend to owe lables more than they make, unless they're lucky or famous, or both.
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Nick Dynice (profile), 1 Oct 2010 @ 9:08am

Hollywood accounting, anyone?
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