The band’s a brand

If we think we’ve got problems in adland, pity the poor sods in the music industry.
Nine out of ten music lovers download their music free.

So, if your business model is based on the exchange of money for good old-fashioned vinyl, tape or disc, then the internet is your nemesis. Unless you are Radiohead.

Everyone knows the band broke new ground when they released ‘In Rainbows’ last year. They offered it as an online download in return for whatever their fans thought was a fair price.

It turned out that most thought a fair price was absolutely bugger all so the band had to revert to traditional methods of sale and distribution. But they’re nothing if not inventive, because next up they invited their fans to buy their song ‘Nude’ from iTunes in five separate bits. Bass, vocals, guitar, strings and drums, you could mix them any which way you fancy. (And if you do fancy, go to www.Radioheadremix.com/buy.)

A widget allows you to put your version up on your MySpace page, or any other page you run, for that matter, as well as uploading it to the radioheadremix site for others to vote for. Or not.

Now Radiohead’s most recent wheeze is to surrender all rights to the video for their latest single, ‘House of Cards’. 1.6 million people have had a butcher’s at it on Youtube alone and who knows how many have downloaded it for free from the band’s website, www.radiohead.com.

What they are encouraging everyone to do is not just download the vid but download the code behind it. Code because the whole thing’s digital. No camera, no lights, no bacon sarnie. All done on a desktop.

Once you’ve got the code, you can make your own mash-up. All a bit complicated for me but a few braver souls have gone to code.google.com/creative/radiohead and have had a stab at it. You can see some of the results at www.youtube.com/group/houseofcards.

The point is, Radiohead are shifting from band to brand simply by being interesting. And the relationships they are building with all those Radiohead heads out there will, one-day, be worth good money.

Marketers take note.

/Patrick Collister/