Radiohead in Rainbows download - how much did you pay?

[stevenkelby]

I paid 2 GBP and I'm glad I didn't pay any more. If it was lossless I would pay CD price.

I'm only going to rip the CD to flac and back it up anyway, then put it in a cupboard and never look at it again.

I must be a audio snob because I love the album but do not enjoy the compression artifacts to the point where I don't enjoy this album after a dozen or so listens.

Compared to every other RH and TY album I have (ALL of them) this one just sounds, I don't know, sonically dead. It's very obviously a low bit rate MP3 and if you don't hear that or it doesn't worry you then I'm jealous!

Before I spent thousands of dollars on head-fi I wouldn't have been bothered but now I know what I'm missing out on with low bit rate MP3. Kind of sad I guess.

I don't listen to any of my old MP3s anymore and am working my way through the collection re-ripping to flac.

I wish I was happy with the quality of rainbows.

It is very well recorded though and most of the production/mastering is great. I will buy the CD when it comes out. Would have anyway.

Actually, wouldn't have, if the download was lossless.

 

[Quaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevenkelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif will buy the CD when it comes out. Would have anyway. Actually, wouldn't have, if the download was lossless..

agree with most of your post,

/\ i think the quote above by you hits the nail on the head as to why they didnt go lossless as a download.

it would have meant people could have essentially chosen to pay 0 for lossless (AKA a redbook CD)

at least this way, people who want the best quality will buy the CD at radioheads predetermined value, and actually buy their product (CD)

 

[arnaud]

I am sure it's got more to do with bandwidth than anything else.

I am sure many of the 0 cost people won't ever bother buying the CD and probably have 90% of illegally downloaded music on their computer!

Given the number of free downloads, I can understand why they limited to 50MB a pop rather than 300MB lossless version... That's a 6x factor, probably enough to keep they servers down for a week rather than a day like we've seen...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaddy /img/forum/go_quote.gif agree with most of your post, /\ i think the quote above by you hits the nail on the head as to why they didnt go lossless as a download. it would have meant people could have essentially chosen to pay 0 for lossless (AKA a redbook CD) at least this way, people who want the best quality will buy the CD at radioheads predetermined value, and actually buy their product (CD)

 

[EnOYiN]

I didn't pay anything, but I will buy the CD (and/or LP) and I think it doesn't really matter whether you did or did not pay anything. Radiohead has got the attention they wanted and because of it I think they'll sell more.

If they copy was lossless I would've given them a reasonable amount of money.

 

[TheAnomaly]

i paid nothing, but will likely buy the CD.

 

[stevenkelby]

Yep I think you are all correct.

If they sold a lossless download for a fixed price I would be happier, but that's the only (minor) complaint I have really. As I said I would pay full CD price for a Lossless download, but most wouldn't. Still, $10 USD for a lossless download would make RH more money than selling CDs. Limited market though I guess. Most people want a disc.

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arnaud /img/forum/go_quote.gif Pretty disappointed by the number of people who paid less than 5 bucks (or said they will, yeah right...). If you can't justify a $5 software purchase, then I am not sure why you're on this forum, nitpicking on headphone amps and such?! Hopefully, this is not representative of the whole fan base for Radiohead but more of the nickel and diming mentality of part of head-fi crowd... Else, I'd stop making music for such kind of audience!! Arnaud.

Not everybody thinks this band's music is worth more than that.

 

[arnaud]

Haha,

Then that's a different issue

. Indeed, given the publicity, there might have been loads of non-radiohead people who gave it a try just because it could be had for free. I am still amazed though that there are people who've never heard RH music before, is that really possible??

Too bad you don't enjoy this album, it works fine for me... Especially compared to the vast majority of commercial/garbage released daily!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not everybody thinks this band's music is worth more than that.

 

[jules650]

I paid nothing for it but I'm getting the CD when it comes out.

It's a great idea for a band with a good fanbase; as long as they release somthing decent it's going to sell well. Three months down the line mp3 downloads are going to be available anyway (official or pirated) but people are still going to buy the CDs. It's a different story for unknown smaller bands trying to make a living. It'll be very interesting to see how much money they make from In Rainbows compared to their previous releases.

 

[pennylane]

I bought the discbox. I think there should be a discbox option. The results would seem a bit skewed otherwise.

 

[Fing]

I paid a penny, plus 45p credit card charge. If they wanted a minimum amount, they should have set it.

However, I do like what I hear and may well purchase it at some later date (when it's been discounted to £5 most likely).

 

[DLeeWebb]

Included with purchase of the discbox

 

[Khanate]

0$... low quality, I'll pay for quality if I like it a lot when it releases on CD..

 

[LuckyKarma]

$11 or so after the service charge (£5). It's worth every penny

 

[Steve_C]

Paid $0, as I believe in try-before-you-buy given the option to do it, but after a few listens I'll probably pay, not just for their music, but for their cause of distributing music this way, as a member noted earlier on.

For those of you that refuse to pay due to the low bitrate, I beg to differ. Has the actual music become secondary to our equipment? While we all read this forum for obvious reasons (read: audiophiles), we must not forget that the end goal of upgrading our equipment is to enjoy music. If you truly enjoy the music, having a flat dynamic range should not be a problem anyway.

Also, if you are holding your money back for the CD release, there is no guarantee that the dynamics will be much better, with all the compression that we got nowadays. Nevermind the fact that the band will receive substantially less money from the CD release as most of it goes to the record label.

Many major record labels are no doubt aware of this independent digital distribution done by Radiohead, and the future of the music industry literally lies in our hands. Radiohead's success of this format of distribution, or lack thereof, will be a pivotal point in history. Show your support to the band, and music in general, by cutting out the evil middle man between the artists and the consumers, which should never have existed in the first place.

Please pay anything - even a dollar will do, that will differentiate you from the music leechers, as you actually paid for your music! Not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling you get for doing the right thing. The statistics from these opening few weeks are absolutely critical and it will really motivate other similar artists to follow the path.

I apologise sincerely if I have offended anyone in my above post.