Freeconomics of Music Edit

Coldplay's Next Single is Free
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We’ve mentioned that freeconomics will play a major factor in future business and will be come crucial, especially in the entertainment industry, for those who want to excel. Coldplay may have been inspired by artists like Prince who gave away free CDs in the Sunday paper last year.

While Coldplay isn’t giving away an entire album, they are offering the first single on the CD for free online.

“Fans can download ‘Violet Hill’, from the album ‘Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends’, free for one week from 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday. The album will be launched on June 12,” Reuters says.

“Coldplay also announced two free shows—one at the Brixton Academy on June 16 and another at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 23.”

Hmm, better than artists who charge for the whole album, but they’re going to have to start being more generous if they really want to get ahead.

Topping the charts in terms of innovation, IMHO, is Radiohead who tried the “pay what you want” approach. They asked fans to pay whatever they thought the Rainbows album was worth, from nothing to an unlimited amounts, and ended up still making millions of dollars.

‘Pay What You Want’ Pays Off (UPDATE) - Radiohead Nets 9.6 MM

UPDATE - We have our first financial updates about Radiohead’s Digital Honesty Box, a concept where fans ‘pay what they want’ for the band’s latest album (In Ranbows). Apparantley, the band has collected roughly $9.6 million for 1.2 million albums so far.  That’s roughly $8 per album, much higher t… [More]