The vinyl record. The 8-track. The cassette tape. The compact disk. The MP3.
Throughout my father's lifetime, the mass production of music underwent these changes. The most current, however, has rocked the recording industry as a whole. With the development of downloadable music and the Napster debates, it might have been one of the first times that the business has dealt with not only flux in technology, but with the very principles of exchange.
People seem to forget, however, the days of dual tape decks that, while with terrible quality, enabled you to borrow your friend's new Violent Femmes tape and make your own copy.
Yet piracy has always been the machination of the consumer. No one has ever given us a free lunch because, according to my high school economy teacher, there is no such thing.
Oh?
Tell that to Radiohead. On Oct. 10, the band released their latest album online only, with the option to set your own price. Because Radiohead is currently between labels, the tangible album, "In Rainbows," is set to release in December as a box set, this time with a fixed price.
Why would a band do that?
First, they can afford it. Whatever expenses they incurred while producing this album may have been all out of pocket without the aid of a label, and I doubt it is putting much of a dent in their wallets.
Second, with the way artists make profit in the industry, Radiohead may make more money on this album than with any other. From the $15 you dish out for an album, your favorite band may only see 40 cents of it.
Unfortunately, that will be hard to determine since record sales aren't calculated in this fashion. A record's success is based on the number of albums sold, not the overall profit.
In one fell swoop, an artist has cut out the middle man by making their own record and mass releasing it via the Internet. The question now is: Does this not render the recording industry obsolete?
While a band of this stature can afford to give away electronic copies of their album, there aren't many who can.
The expenses involved in making a record - hiring a producer, paying a sound engineer and studio fees - do not stop after the record is actually done. Public relation firms that seek out music media to promote and sell the album are also part of the circus and are a vital component in gaining profit.
For example, if an indie band was to pursue a similar endeavor to Radiohead's, the finished product would be sub par and awareness about the release would be next to nil.
The real money is in touring and merchandise yet both usually come from recognition after an album is dropped and promoted.
Ultimately, if record companies go down, public relations is on board that sinking ship.
We live, however, in the world of MySpace, a mass communications vehicle that plenty of bands have already embraced.
Combine this new opportunity to self-promote with this new model of selling your record for dirt cheap online, and the crumble of fat cat labels such as Geffen and Capitol may be a distant inevitability.
Personally, I am concerned over the possible death of the compact disk, although the fact that vinyl is still around encourages me. Something about being a collector makes the tangible record fundamental. The institution of selling a product package has deep roots in the music world.
Even as the formats change, a product is born of that change. A recent release of Bob Marley's greatest hits was produced in Zip drive format, complete with artwork and packaging.
In all, Radiohead's selling model is provocative, but only time will tell if this first tiny step will echo throughout time or get buried by the corporate machine. Rest assured, that machine won't go down without a fight.
-Briana Hernandez
