ABSTRACT
As record sales plummeted dramatically over the course of the early 2000s, the recording industry continually pointed to illegal file sharing as the major source of its financial crisis. In an effort to stem the flow of downloads, the RIAA began suing individual file sharers for copyright infringement. To many artists, however, downloading was not something to be feared, but to be embraced as a positive form of exposure. In October 2007, the band Radiohead, whose contract had expired with EMI, garnered headlines when they decided to release their latest album, In Rainbows, independently as a digital download available through their website on a “pay-what-you-will” basis. In the interview that follows, noted new wave and alternative musician David Byrne (born 1952) queries Radiohead front man Thom Yorke (born 1968) about the band’s decision. While it paid dividends for a group like Radiohead with a devoted following (when In Rainbows was eventually released as a physical copy three months later in January 2008, it still managed to top the album charts in the US and UK), would such a maneuver benefit a new artist? As Byrne mentions, very little of his own income currently comes from record sales; have we entered an era where musicians should now expect to support themselves more through avenues such as touring, publishing and licensing?1 One thing is certainthe rise of downloading has emboldened many established artists such as Nine Inch Nails, who like Radiohead have fled their major label contracts in favor of more flexible and financially rewarding arrangements.
