Tool Frontman Responds To Radiohead's 'Rainbows'
Here's yet another opinion on the debacle, this time from Tool's Maynard James Keenan: *"I love Radiohead. They're a great band, but I do think - and I'll go on record now as saying - I'll probably be wrong and time will tell - what they did is a one-trick pony in a way. Cause it might work for a publicity thing to allow people to download it, but it's very comfortable for them to be able to do that. They're going to make lots of money touring and they've already made lots of money selling records. One thing that I see the musicians wanting is more independence and, you know, more control over their destiny. The one downside to it is that for the most part, the reason they make music is because they're damaged goods and they're generally not that bright when it comes to making business decisions. So eventually the vampires that survive the aftermath of the industry collapse will figure out a way to get their fingers back into these guys."* Read more of the interview over at The Spinner. Photo courtesy of The Doo.MP3: Tool - Cold & Ugly (live)
posted by m | 10:00 AM
4 Comments:
I suppose he was just being blunt when he said Radiohead weren't very bright in regards to making business decisions, but that did sting a bit. In any case, at the very least they've been brave enough to give this option a try, in the face of a collapsing paradigm which has seen the majority of the profits go to the record companies while a measly few cents off each sale go to the artists who create the damned thing. I imagine this might work similarly to spam: it's out there, and you have some buyers, and some is enough to keep you going. Definitely not lucrative, but quite possibly they might make more this way than through the corporate-bastard-as-middleman method through which so many artists have gone broke. I'd like to see a study on this, cuz I personally think that done the right way, this new method may just work. Also, what's the alternative, keep losing money through piracy? Something to think about.
ALSO: they (Radiohead) could go the already proven route Wilco have taken and simply sell their music straight through their website. This is a time of bold experimentation, and for that I applaud Radiohead. Like Keenan said, only time will tell; thing is, at least they were bold enough to try. That isn't indicative of poor business acumen, necessarily, but rather indicative of a bold approach to innovative methods, the same approach that has helped them create some truly brilliant music. By that very nature, you win some, you lose some. At least you try.
I agree. Time will tell what the answer is, but at least Radiohead has proven that they understand the question.
To the other anonymous: I don't think Keenan was saying the members of Radiohead aren't bright when it comes to business, but that musicians in general are not bright in that regard (and he's probably right). And I agree with Keenan that this release was a trick pony; people who legitimately like a band will buy a record by that band. Those people bought the Radiohead album while others just downloaded it to see what the fuss was about. I know if I had the choise to buy an album by some band I hadn't heard of (not Radiohead obvioiusly), or to just download it for free legally I would probably go for the free method.
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