Free Lunch for Radiohead Fans, Apple Not Included

The music industry is dying to know: W.W.R.F.P.?

That's What Would a Radiohead Fan Pay, in case you're out of the loop. The popular British band is testing the market with a new pricing scheme for its forthcoming album In Rainbows. Fans can pre-order a downloadable, copyright-free album from the band's site for whatever price they want to pay.

The initial response to the offer, which launched yesterday, was so great it crippled its servers. The site is back up and running now, and Radiohead's people say that fans are not the cheapskates some might have thought they would be.

"Although the idea is that you can decide what you want to pay, most people are deciding on a normal retail price with very few trying to buy it for a penny," Radiohead spokesman Murray Chalmers told the BBC today.

Many in the industry have wanted to see how this model would play out, and it's clear that Radiohead, which has had a loyal following since its 1986 formation, is the right band to step forward as guinea pig. "This is all anybody is talking about in the music industry today," R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs told the Los Angeles Times. "My head is spinning, honestly," added Kelly Curtis, Pearl Jam's rep. "It's very cool and very inspiring, really."

The experiment, as Radiohead calls it, is an interesting psychological one for music fans. Die-hard Radiohead fans (Radioheadheads?) will likely have a hard time giving the band the message that its album is worth almost nothing to them. Those are likely the people Chalmers says are paying retail price for the download.

On the other hand, the site will almost certainly attract and entirely new base of fans who might otherwise not be exposed to the album. Radiohead can afford to give those people its new album for next to nothing, with the hopes that they'll become lifelong followers.

Of course, we have no choice but to take Chalmers' word on the pricing trends they have seen so far. If most people are paying a few cents for the album, he isn't likely to shout that from the mountaintops.

And for those of us in the U.S., the weak dollar prevents us from paying only pennies for the album. Radiohead charges a 45 pence fee for the credit card payment, which comes to about 92 cents.

However, we can avoid that charge by simply offering to pay zero.

by Megan Barnett