Free Agents Abound

Trent Reznor is following in the footsteps of Radiohead by announcing on their blog that they are shifting to being free agents. Looks like the music industry is shifting, this time drastically, once again.

NIN announced on Monday via the bands personal website that they are pursuing being free agents to have more direct contact with fans.

Radiohead did the same this past week. In a bold business move Radiohead is selling their new album for whatever customers want to pay.. a dollar, a penny, a benjamin, you name the price. I think it will be a great move for the band, and so does the Economist:

"The Daily Telegraph speculates today that the free download is likely to pay off in increased demand for tour tickets and a flood of fan marketing data. Perhaps, but as the mounting number of news stories on the strategy attest, Radiohead hardly needs to struggle to find its way into the popular press. The new album will probably increase interest in subsequent tours, potentially increasing the band's ability to raise ticket prices, but such is the group's popularity that it could feasibly tour for years on end with no new album and still sell out venue after venue."

In fact, I expect that business professors across the country will be using Radiohead as a case study in the future.