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Freeloaders Outnumber Paying Downloaders of Radiohead's 'In Rainbows'
The release of Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” album has challenged the music industry’s traditional distribution and sales model by allowing consumers to determine the price they are willing to pay; a comScore study looks at downloads and online sales of “In Rainbows.”
During the first 29 days of October, 1.2 million people worldwide visited the “In Rainbows” site, with a significant percentage of visitors ultimately downloading the album, according to comScore.
Among the findings of comScore’s study:
- Some 38% of global downloaders of the album willingly paid, with the remaining 62% choosing to pay nothing.
- The proportion of those downloading for free in the US (60%) is only marginally lower than in the rest of the world (64%):
- While freeloaders appear to be as prevalent in the US as elsewhere, US paying customers are willing to pay far more ($8.05 per download) than international counterparts ($4.64), possibly because USÂ consumers generally have more disposable income but also because free file-sharing is more prevalent elsewhere:
- Of those who were willing to pay, the largest percentage (17%) paid less than $4.
- However, a significant percentage (12%) were willing to pay between $8-$12, or approximately the cost to download a typical album via iTunes - and those consumers accounted for more than half (52%) of all sales in dollars:
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Consumers visiting the album site can also choose to purchase the Discbox, which includes a vinyl album, bonus CD, and assortment of other trinkets, at the site for a set price of approximately $80.
(For a discussion of the model adopted by Radiohead is likely to succeed, despite the prevalence of freeloaders, see the post at the comScore blog.)
