Photo by Pari Dukovic
When it comes to innovative release strategies RADIOHEAD frontman THOM YORKE has always been a pioneer. Just remember the ‘Pay-what-you-want’ stunt with his band’s 2007 album In Rainbows. Last September Mr. YORKE surprised his fans with the surprise release of his second solo album Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes via torrent service BitTorrent. The basic price for the album was $6 but, of course, fans could also decide to get an optional free download of the record.
As now published 4.4 Million people download Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes which already is an impressive number. Now the guys from Gigoam did the math and found out that the RADIOHEAD singer could have made impressive 20 Million dollars out of the release. Of course, the number might be a bit too high as we don’t know which customer paid how much. But it shows the potential of a BitTorrent release.
THOM YORKE himself explained his intentions during the release as he was aiming for ‘an effective way of handing some control of internet commerce back to people who are creating the work [and] bypassing the self elected gate-keepers.’ Listen to the album’s bonus track Youwouldn’tlikemewhenI’mangry right here.
—