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More downloaded Radiohead via P2P then free legal alternative

5 August 2008 18:43 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 15 comments

According to a report from the P2P monitor Big Champagne and the UK�s MCPS-PRS royalty collector, Radiohead's latest album was downloaded by 2.3 million people via BitTorrent and P2P, for the two month period that it was available, legally and for free from Radiohead's website.

The huge number "far exceeds what outsiders have reported as the estimated download total from the bands official website, regardless of whether those downloaders paid or not�.

The report leads to more interesting questions, like why would users choose illegal free over a free, legal alternative. Big Champagne CEO Eric Garland says perhaps users were already downloading from P2P and could not be bothered to head to the legal site to download from there. There is also the chance that not to many people heard the news of the free release.

Even they believe that is wishful thinking however. The report says the real reason is instead that users have become so accustomed to P2P and BitTorrent that it appeals to them even more then a legal alternative. Illegal is "now entrenched" and the labels and business will face an uphill battle to change these habits.

There is also, the case of Nine Inch Nails. Their free release of "The Slip" had much higher downloads from NIN.com than from torrents. In the US and the UK, Radiohead's "In Rainbows" also reached #1 in physical media sales. Could really just be preference and marketing.

Permalink to this article | Topics: MP3 & Digital Audio Online music services

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ThePastor (Junior Member) 5 August 2008 20:32
*Quote:* The report says the real reason is instead that users have become so accustomed to P2P and BitTorrent that it appeals to them even more then a legal alternative. Orrrrrrrrr.... People heard that the RadioHead music was legal so they went to their usual download place and looked it up to get it, since it was LEGAL! [ + quote]
DXR88 (Member) 5 August 2008 20:37
*Quote:* *Quote:* The report says the real reason is instead that users have become so accustomed to P2P and BitTorrent that it appeals to them even more then a legal alternative. Orrrrrrrrr.... People heard that the RadioHead music was legal so they went to their usual download place and looked it up to get it, since it was LEGAL! Gasp....No way. [ + quote]
SProdigy (Member) 5 August 2008 21:20
*Quote:* *Quote:* *Quote:* The report says the real reason is instead that users have become so accustomed to P2P and BitTorrent that it appeals to them even more then a legal alternative. Orrrrrrrrr.... People heard that the RadioHead music was legal so they went to their usual download place and looked it up to get it, since it was LEGAL! Gasp....No way. Orrrrrrrrr.... People didn't hear anything of it from the Radiohead website, and said, oh, let me look up that song like I always do... [ + quote]
defgod (Newbie) 5 August 2008 21:25
I don't see how anyone can say that (in this case) downloading via p2p is illegal. It was given away for free in the first place. So anyone that had downloaded it could do whatever they wanted to with it. Anything given away for free can be and will be used in any way shape and form. [ + quote]
emugamer (Member) 5 August 2008 21:37
That last paragraph is a puzzler. How confusing. Let's all scratch heads. [ + quote]
JorDogg (Inactive) 5 August 2008 21:56
I thought the legal version was of poorer quality to CD quality, so maybe people downloaded the illegal version because of better quality? A lot of mixtapes come out in poor quality for free so if you REALLY like it they think you will go buy it. [ + quote]
samus250 (Junior Member) 5 August 2008 23:32
P2P and torrents are better for Radiohead's website since it doesn't consume the server's bandwidth. People were just being kind to them. [ + quote]
lawndog (Member) 5 August 2008 23:46
Call me stupid, but I didn't know their website was giving it away as a free download. I knew NIN did, but not radiohead. Perhaps not enough media attention regarding it. But wait......whos the media........... LD [ + quote]
lawndog (Member) 5 August 2008 23:46
sorry double post LD [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 5 August 2008 23:47
tin23uk (Junior Member) 6 August 2008 11:15
*Originally posted by defgod:* I don't see how anyone can say that (in this case) downloading via p2p is illegal. It was given away for free in the first place. So anyone that had downloaded it could do whatever they wanted to with it. Anything given away for free can be and will be used in any way shape and form. no not really, radiohead still retain copyright of the tracks and so uploading to p2p is still in this case illegal unless its done with the extpressed consent of the copyright owner, distributing someones coryrighted material is still illigal reguardless of how you obtained it, only radiohead have the right to distribute their work. *Originally posted by JorDogg:* I thought the legal version was of poorer quality to CD quality, so maybe people downloaded the illegal version because of better quality? A lot of mixtapes come out in poor quality for free so if you REALLY like it they think you will go buy it. this may have been their intention all along, they thought they were being sneaky by releasing a lower quality themselves for free. doing what they did would never generate as many sales as it would if they had just released the album in the traditional but by giving it away for free they look better in the eyes of music fans, get alot of free publicity, and maybe make a couple quid from those who buy the cd due to the low quality of the free versions. (dont know if they even released this album in the traditional way also, but if they did that may be the reason) [ + quote]
mostopher (Newbie) 6 August 2008 16:50
*Originally posted by tin23uk:* (dont know if they even released this album in the traditional way also...) they did (it says so at the end of the article) *Quote:* In the US and the UK, Radiohead's "In Rainbows" also reached #1 in physical media sales. Could really just be preference and marketing. I wonder how much "official/legal" downloads reputations had to do with this, for example given the choice of totally free, non DRM protected music in a format which suits me or an official version bogged down with DRM etc I would choose the former everytime. Not saying that radioheads free DL was better or worse (or DRM'd) than illegal copies but it may have been tarred with the same brush as other legal DLs. [ + quote]
jetyi83 (Member) 7 August 2008 22:20
its because it was easier to download from p2p. their website made it difficult to download. You needed to give your information no brainer [ + quote]
varnull (AfterDawn Addict) 7 August 2008 22:37
Am I alone.. I haven't downloaded it from anywhere.. is it a good album? Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work. OOps.. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/25/...es_dead_hurrah/ [ + quote]
DXR88 (Member) 8 August 2008 1:27
*Originally posted by varnull:* Am I alone.. I haven't downloaded it from anywhere.. is it a good album? I don't even have a clue who the radio-head is but hey free music is free not to say any music is free, but its the good free [ + quote]
DXR88 (Member) 8 August 2008 1:28
Did i say it was free, just encase i didn't it's free [ + quote]