Banner Blog: Where banners click
We're looking for a sponsor or advertisers
AboutIndustry NewsSubmitArchives and RSSSubscribeContactFollow us on TwitterJoin us on Facebook
View the complete news archive here

January 10, 2008

Pay What You Feel

radiohead_hypocrites.jpg

Radiohead got great coverage of their "In Rainbows" album that you could download and pay what you feel like.

Funny that 2008 saw the album was released in record stores around the world and you can no longer download it. Early adopters only thanks! Record labels rejoice as we all realize there still more money to be made with physical CD's.

But don't let Radiohead's PR train fool you into thinking they were the only ones. It wasn't just Radiohead doing this there were other examples all with seemingly positive results.

Steal This Film part I & Part II asked the P2P users to pay a small donation and it seems to have worked out OK.

Revolution let people into theaters for free and had them pay at the end. In the Fox interview below the producer says "we've made over $5 million" which is great for a independent film.

Even comedians are getting in on the act with Steve Hofsetter making triple his normal royalty if he released he latest album on a label. This article quotes "In the first two days of sales, Hofstetter says he has made more money than he did in the first two weeks of his last album."

Trent Reznor and his pet project "Niggy Tardust" had 28,000 people pay $5 for the new album. That equated to 18% of the total downloads.

After reading Trent's quite honest report on his site he seems disappointed. Sounds like he spent quite a bit of money actually producing the album. Also he set the price $5. All the other efforts asked people to pay what they felt. So people may have paid more. Also he could have brought in more smaller donations.

These successes show you don't have to be one of the biggest bands on the world to make this work. In fact the gimmick might even expand your brand beyond your initial fan base.

Will any major brands trial this idea in 2008. Pay what you want for a pair of Nike's? I guess it's easy for digital distribution. You not actually at a lose if 1,000,000 people take you up on your offer and don't pay. But with psychical products there is a production cost.

I guess the Hare Krishna's have been doing this for a long time with their free food in exchange for a donation of some kid. And I know there have been many "Pay what you feel" restaurants in the past that get by the same way.




 

Recent Comments

Powered by Disqus
Awards (58)
B&T Top 5 (2)
BB News (67)
Blatant Self Promotion (23)
Books (1)
Buzz Words (9)
Campaigns (58)
Cannes 2008 (2)
Employment Opportunities (3)
Illustration (1)
Industry News (80)
Interesting Articles (95)
Interesting Promotions (137)
Media Gaffes (23)
Newsletter (5)
Online Applications (7)
Production (5)
Site Launch (48)
Technology (27)
Top 10 Banners (1)
Viral (107)
fun (13)
June 2012 (1)
April 2012 (1)
February 2012 (1)
January 2012 (1)
November 2011 (1)
October 2011 (1)
July 2011 (1)
May 2011 (2)
April 2011 (1)
March 2011 (5)
February 2011 (2)
January 2011 (4)
December 2010 (3)
November 2010 (4)
October 2010 (4)
September 2010 (3)
August 2010 (8)
July 2010 (8)
June 2010 (3)
May 2010 (4)
April 2010 (4)
March 2010 (6)
February 2010 (7)
January 2010 (7)
December 2009 (7)
November 2009 (3)
October 2009 (5)
September 2009 (4)
August 2009 (6)
July 2009 (4)
June 2009 (6)
May 2009 (11)
April 2009 (11)
March 2009 (13)
February 2009 (23)
January 2009 (37)
December 2008 (24)
November 2008 (16)
October 2008 (36)
September 2008 (26)
August 2008 (9)
July 2008 (11)
June 2008 (9)
May 2008 (11)
April 2008 (9)
March 2008 (13)
February 2008 (23)
January 2008 (18)
December 2007 (15)
November 2007 (11)
October 2007 (12)
September 2007 (9)
August 2007 (12)
July 2007 (19)
June 2007 (11)
May 2007 (11)
April 2007 (24)
March 2007 (23)
February 2007 (11)
January 2007 (6)
December 2006 (10)
November 2006 (15)
October 2006 (15)
September 2006 (17)
August 2006 (20)
July 2006 (8)
June 2006 (12)
May 2006 (13)
April 2006 (4)
March 2006 (17)
February 2006 (14)
January 2006 (7)
December 2005 (8)
November 2005 (3)
October 2005 (5)
September 2005 (5)