£3.88 – Average Price Paid For Radiohead’s “In Rainbows”
According to Record Of The Day, who performed an informal survey that they claim received over 5000 submissions, £3.88 was the average price paid for Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” record release.
Radiohead’s “pay what you think it’s worth” online retail experiment made the record industry stand up and take notice with their brazen foray into the Do It Yourself retail space. But the real question on everyone’s mind? Was it profitable?
Based on the survey, Record Of The Day states that 28.5% of downloaders paid £0.00-0.01 for the album. At the other end of the spectrum, 2.5% paid between £10.00 and £39.00 for the release. Whatever price the consumer decided to pay, they still had to shell out the credit card fee, which was not included in the bid. The average price paid, £3.88, is more of a litmus test to the viability of Radiohead’s model, and reveals what consumer’s feel is a fair price and the true value of a release in today’s market.
