The debate over whether or not Web-based music makes money just got more intense today as the figures from Radiohead's 2007 album/experiment In Rainbows were released. The thing sold 3 million copies! I'm pretty sure record companies are going to take note and start releasing more and more material online before becoming available in stores.
Of course, iTunes and eMusic have been offering "exclusive" albums before official release dates for a while now, but I'd be surprised if more companies don't go the digital prerelease route. I mean, if people really want to hear something before it comes out, it just takes a simple Google search and some form of download manager for them to get it in their ears. In fact, the statistics said more people downloaded In Rainbows via BitTorrent than the 3 million who purchased it at their own price from the official Web site. That's a huge, untapped market there.
It kind of makes me wonder what form of media will soon become forever linked with the Internet...
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Groups like Radiohead are definitely capitalizing on this new media and thinking of ways to reach out to THEIR audience with the means the band realizes is readily available ... moreso than they can reach with concerts and with store packages. I think the saying is "cut out the middle-man."
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