Big Head Todd Gives Away Half A Million Records, Some Of Which May Have Even Been Listened To
Big Head Todd and the Monsters are the latest band to jump on the fiscally shaky free music bandwagon, abandoning even a Radiohead-style pay-what-you-will scheme in favor of just plain ol’ giving away a reported 500,000 copies of their latest album, All The Love You Need. And even though this tactic means the Monsters are now unable to turn a profit on their recorded output, the band remains optimistic about the future of the biz and their future as a band, because they think they’ve been blessed with something more important than healthy SoundScan numbers in these industry end times. (And we don’t mean Hillary Clinton’s sloppy seconds.)
He adds that the band’s longtime fans – who probably would have bought the album in stores – welcome the offer of free tunes: “They really appreciate the music, and that translates into huge audience energy at the shows.”
Commenting on the Big Head Todd marketing model, Radio & Records magazine says, “This sort of thing might well be the future of music distribution. Give away the music, build a bigger fan base and generate revenue through live shows and merchandising.”
What’s the downside of free music?
“The worst part is that it has a desperate sound to it,” say Mohr, “and the record business puts value on numbers.”
And yet the Monsters are still a little sad that their 500k giveaway won’t earn them any gold records, because if the precious metals certification rules were rewritten to include freebies there would be nothing stopping EMI from claiming all those CDs now being used to pave Chinese roads as “sales” and before you know it Robbie Williams is multi-platinum again. And of course a jam circuit fave like Big Head Todd with a devoted audience already has a leg up in staying financially afloat when foregoing remuneration for their records, but with an already over-saturated touring market straining under the weight of all those bands trying to make up for poor CD sales on the road, the long-range viability of the band’s largesse is another big question mark in this latest new model wrinkle.
TheBig Frees [NY Post]
