1. What does this band’s mise-en-scene
suggest about their musical
genre and target audience?

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBalSWs5
ngY – Radiohead, ‘Reckoner’
Radiohead – In Rainbows
Marketing without a record company
• How has digital technology affected
music industry marketing?

3. Why study ‘In Rainbows’ as an
example of a marketing strategy?
• To understand the impact of digital technology
on the 4Ps of marketing
1. Product
2. Place
3. Price
4. Promotion
• To evaluate the success of this strategy

4. https://www.y
outube.com/w
5 things you may not
atch?v=XFkzR
Nyygfk - Creep
know about Radiohead
• Radiohead are an innovative and original British band from Oxfordshire.
• They met at independent school and have an intellectual approach to their music.
This appeals to fans who are interested in non-commercial music.
• They were discovered as a result of playing gigs in local venues around
Oxfordshire. It took 10 years for them to gain critical acclaim and to win awards.
• Their first single, ‘Creep’, was blacklisted by Radio 1 for being too depressing.
• In 2004, Radiohead left their label, EMI (now part of UMG) and were without a
record label.
• In 2007, Radiohead released their new album, ‘In Rainbows’, as a pay-what-you-
like digital download.

5. 1 Product
• Radiohead’s seventh studio album
2 Place (distribution)
October 2007
• Distributed online as a digital download for its first 10 weeks via inrainbows.com
November 2007
• Pre-orders taken for a limited edition boxed set via inrainbows.com
January 2008 onwards
• Official digital download withdrawn.
• Physical CD released – XL Records involved in its distribution in UK and Europe
• Digital download via iTunes at normal prices

6. 3 Price
• Digital download = £0.00-£99.99 – depending on what you
want to pay
• Limited edition boxed-set: £40 ordered via inrainbows.com
• Physical CD = usual price
4 Promotion
• Launch announced as a blog post
• Streamed live webcast of the Radiohead performing the album
• Music video competition via an animation website

7. Did it work?
• Gave the artists control over the release of the
album: “every record for the last four … has been
leaked. So the idea was like, we'll leak
it, then.”(Thom Yorke, lead singer)
• Created interest for a successful physical release:
charted at number one both in the UK and in the
US;
sold more than a million copies in its first year of
release;
won 2 Grammys and had 3 Grammy nominations

8. In summary:
• An innovative marketing model:
– Online launch before traditional formats were released
– Consumer choice with regard to pricin
– Gained huge quantities of media coverage – print, radio and TV – because people did not know whether it
would work.
• Effective because:
– Band were well established
– Digital formats were becoming commonplace
– The target audience is young; technologically aware; willing to try new things.
• Broke the mould for music industry marketing
– Band controlled the 4Ps themselves – created the product; set the price; decided on the place (distribution
channels); and organised promotion