Radiohead Fans Display Loyalty to Pirate Sites

By Chris Green

MORE RADIOHEAD fans downloaded the band’s most recent album illegally than through the official website, despite the band making it available for free.

Figures gathered by the Performing Rights Society – the group of songwriters, composers and music publishers which collects British royalties – show that, on the day the band’s seventh album, In Rainbows, was released, more than 400,000 “pirate” copies were downloaded illegally through file-sharing networks. In less than four weeks, this number had risen to more than 2.3 million, a figure which the report says “far exceeds” the total estimated downloads from the band’s website.

The study, produced by the chief economist of the society in association with an internet monitoring company, concludes that many people who download music illegally feel a strong sense of brand loyalty towards piracy websites, and will continue to use them even if they are offered an identical, gratis and lawful alternative.

“Online piracy thrives not only because of the widespread availability of free, top-tier entertainment, but because the venues themselves are now well known, well liked and habitually used,” says the report.

“Even when the price approaches zero, all other things being equal, people are more likely to act habitually than to break their habit. In a digital arena, consumers go to venues where they feel comfortable.”

Radiohead have never disclosed how much money they made from the online sales of In Rainbows, or how many people downloaded it.

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