If moz sells his tunes on the internet....

[Currer Bell]

He should probably charge something if he wants to see any money from it:

People didn't want to pay a dime for Radiohead...but who can blame them?

 

[Dave]

If 40% in the US paid an average of $8.05, that sounds like a lot of cash to me, with no record company fancy accounting, and no delayed payment. That doesn't count the rest of the world, or the fact that this research was not paid for by Radiohead, and was based on a small group of a few hundred people.

Getting all the money up front, instead of waiting for the royalty checks, means that once the initial tax-deductible costs were paid, there was a whole lot of money to get creative with.

All they paid for was the special server time they rented.

Plus they weren't selling the whole thing. There is the box set and a CD still to come. Radiohead fans will buy the CD.

A kot of the people that downloaded it now have some Radiohead songs which they might like enough to go back and buy some of their other music.

I think it was a huge success. The people that want us to think it was a failure are the people that found it frightening that a hugely popular band like Radiohead would actually do this. This frightened record companies and the release of those songs in that way was huge.

The only thing they did wrong was not accepting Paypal for payment, and making you give them your credit card information.

If Morrissey did this it would not be as successful because the demand would not be as great and he has different types of fans, more traditional, older, less computer-savvy. But he would see a HUGE influx of cash very quickly and I think his fans WOULD pay. They are more used to paying for music. When you are used to getting it for free, like younger fans are, paying seems weird.

That's my opinion, anyway. I think it's a very interesting topic.

 

[Vauxhall95]

We know Morrissey loves to be courted, pampered, and wooed by the recording industry. He is an enigma. He claims to despise the recording industry; however he will not embrace the new music paradigm. I think it is partly generational and partly vanity. I wish he'd embrace both, just as you artfully illustrated with your Radiohead example. Morrissey has one of the most loyal and unique fan bases in all of music, and we are so easily placated. Throw out a free track on the True-to-You website every six months or so from the back catalog and keep the interest among your fans high and reward them for their loyalties. I'm not suggesting he give away all his music. Just an occasional goodwill track. He doesn't need to give away his music, in fact if anyone's art is worth paying for it is his, but why not give a little something to those that spread your music and apostletize for you. We are your PR arm. Throw us a freakin' bone, eh?

If 40% in the US paid an average of $8.05, that sounds like a lot of cash to me, with no record company fancy accounting, and no delayed payment. That doesn't count the rest of the world, or the fact that this research was not paid for by Radiohead, and was based on a small group of a few hundred people.

Getting all the money up front, instead of waiting for the royalty checks, means that once the initial tax-deductible costs were paid, there was a whole lot of money to get creative with.

All they paid for was the special server time they rented.

Plus they weren't selling the whole thing. There is the box set and a CD still to come. Radiohead fans will buy the CD.

A kot of the people that downloaded it now have some Radiohead songs which they might like enough to go back and buy some of their other music.

I think it was a huge success. The people that want us to think it was a failure are the people that found it frightening that a hugely popular band like Radiohead would actually do this. This frightened record companies and the release of those songs in that way was huge.

The only thing they did wrong was not accepting Paypal for payment, and making you give them your credit card information.

If Morrissey did this it would not be as successful because the demand would not be as great and he has different types of fans, more traditional, older, less computer-savvy. But he would see a HUGE influx of cash very quickly and I think his fans WOULD pay. They are more used to paying for music. When you are used to getting it for free, like younger fans are, paying seems weird.

That's my opinion, anyway. I think it's a very interesting topic.

 

[Worm]

Morrissey's seeming unwillingness to release rare or unique songs goes back to The Smiths. Pretty much everything they recorded made it onto a record. I doubt he has much in the vaults. And alternate takes, remixes, and the like would only erode the image he likes to project of effortless genius. No slaving away in the studio, no mistakes, no revisions, no chaff. The guy writes his lyrics in a notebook, walks into a studio, does two or three vocal takes, and then leaves to brood in a park. Just like his hero, Oscar Wilde, who once said something like, "Oh, I have had a very busy day. In the morning, going over the proof of a poem, I took out a comma. In the afternoon, I put it back again".

 

[Vauxhall95]

Morrissey's seeming unwillingness to release rare or unique songs goes back to The Smiths. Pretty much everything they recorded made it onto a record. I doubt he has much in the vaults. And alternate takes, remixes, and the like would only erode the image he likes to project of effortless genius. No slaving away in the studio, no mistakes, no revisions, no chaff. The guy writes his lyrics in a notebook, walks into a studio, does two or three vocal takes, and then leaves to brood in a park. Just like his hero, Oscar Wilde, who once said something like, "Oh, I have had a very busy day. In the morning, going over the proof of a poem, I took out a comma. In the afternoon, I put it back again".

I hear you, but would a proper studio release of "Redondo Beach," "I'm Playing Easy to Get," or "Honey You Know Where to Find Me" be too much to ask? Most of the songs I'm thinking of are tracks he has played live and never recorded a proper studio track. Something the die hard fans would appreciate and material that really doesn't fit with where he is at musical in 2007.

P.S. Those punctuation marks are killers!

 

[Vauxhall95]

Doesn't he do that in a way with the new songs at shows? He's probably very aware that they will be bootlegged and shared amongst the community.

True, it's not every six months though.

For me, when I see a Morrissey concert I'm hungering for the old favorites and whatever new songs from the album he is currently touring on. While I liked, "All You Need Is Me" when I saw him perform live earlier this year, if I had my way I'd much rather hear "Interesting Drug" or "Everyday is Like Sunday." I'm not a big fan of being exposed to new songs at a concert. IMO, I'd much rather listen to the studio versions first, then hear them live, but that's just me.

 

[the judge]

Plus they weren't selling the whole thing. There is the box set and a CD still to come. Radiohead fans will buy the CD.

I paid $0, I just wanted to hear it, I don't think I'll buy the box, I will buy the CD.