Sonic Youth: Radiohead make other bands look bad

by on June 10, 2009 with 41 Comments in Radiohead News

Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon has said Radiohead’s pay-what-you-want-model makes other musicians look bad. The band’s bassist told The Guardian called the ‘In Rainbows’ a good marketing ploy.

Sonic Youth, who have released their most recent album through Matador, could have put out the album themselves, but chose not to because, as Gordon says, “there’s a whole machinery you have to build up.” Radiohead did it, though, with In Rainbows, initially released online for whatever fans wanted to pay.

“I don’t really think they did it by themselves,” Gordon counters. “They did a marketing ploy by themselves and then got someone else to put it out. It seemed really community-oriented, but it wasn’t catered towards their musician brothers and sisters, who don’t sell as many records as them. It makes everyone else look bad for not offering their music for whatever. It was a good marketing ploy and I wish I’d thought of it! But we’re not in that position either. We might not have been able to put out a record for another couple of years if we’d done it ourselves: it’s a lot of work. And it takes away from the actual making music.”

In the meantime Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars was interested in the pay-what-you-want model as well, but preferred Trent Reznor’s method. He told Spinner: “I’d be curious to see more examples because didn’t Radiohead eventually put their record out?” Leto says. “Trent seems to be the only guy that’s stuck to his guns and stayed tried and true. He’s a god among men.”

Still, despite his respect and interest in the pay-what-you-want model, Leto is sticking with the industry for now. “I’m not so sure I’ve seen someone do it better than a record company to tell you the truth,” he says. “I’ve seen someone do it differently, not better. I’ve gotta give credit where credit is due.”


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  • Nick M

    It’s not all about Kim Gordon, RH tried something different, it wasn’t selfish.

  • Tara

    Isn’t this old news? It’s so 2007. Move on Kim.

  • http://cuadriculado.wordpress.com arandano

    even if it is not yet affordable for every band out there, I believe that this is the model we should be moving to, and Radiohead taking the lead just makes me proud and happy.

    if this model is not yet for everyone, it is probably because recording studios and record labels are taking already too much money from artists,and that, for me, needs to stop in order to make music more available for the end user while still enabling artists to continue doing what they do.

    the same applies to other business models that base a good deal of their money making on intellectual property and other outdated ideas.

    just my 2 cents.

  • Rita

    People who make these types of comments are listening to what the press has said about rh’s motives instead of listening to the band has repeatedly said that they were tired of their albums leaking, so they leaked the album themselves. it was an experiment for them. They weren’t trying to change the model for everyone. I respect Kim and Sonic Youth, but I think her comment is off target.

  • Deena Dinat

    Yes, obviously it was Radiohead-specific, and it was never presented by the band as anything else. Maybe if Sonic Youth were still putting out albums as good as Daydream Nation they would be in a similar position, but they haven’t. And Jared Leto? Are you kidding me?

  • Riviera

    How independent are you and can you afford to be when you have to live up to peoples expectation and most importantly your own. And don’t forget that some of these expectations are in conflict.

  • Luke

    I’m pretty sure this was a one-time thing – Radiohead most likely won’t be releasing their next album that way.

    And as someone else said, this is old news. Time to move on. Because you know Radiohead are/have.

  • http://khristopher.com Khristopher

    I don’t understand… why can’t people get it through their heads that this was an experiment they wanted to try.

  • Eggy13

    Gotta love TR! “He’s a god among men”

  • Martyn

    If In Rainbows was a bad album would anyone download it. If other bands made really good albums, would the fans not fork out £10 for it. If you look bad it cause your music sucks!

  • Martyn

    If In Rainbows was a bad album would anyone download it. If other bands made great albums, would the fans not fork out £10 for it. If you look bad it’s cause your music sucks!

  • Hearts and Minds and US Planes

    People still whining about the gimmick they tried 2 years ago means it was a really terrific gimmick, wasn’t it? It’s not like they’ll do it again with LP8.

  • Nick

    I love Sonic Youth, but…

    Come off it Kim. It was obviously a one-off, you’re smart enough to read between the lines and read their interviews and the numerous times the band said that it was in fact a one-time experiment that came at a unique time when they were label-less and wanted to release the album by themselves with the help of their management and understand that. All this comes off as is that someone has a case of relevance envy. At least you were honest enough to admit you wished you’d thought of it yourself. And nobody’s said it was a perfect experiment, many fans complained that the download was only 160kbps MP3.

    And what’s this about musician brothers and sisters? I love you guys, but as a budding musician it’s not like I expect my influences to throw me a fucking parade when I put my first album out.

    Also, who the fuck cares what Jared Leto thinks about anything. Honestly.

  • Steve

    Does anyone listen to Radiohead interviews? It has been stated over and over again the the ‘pay what you want model’ was an experiment, not a model. No one in the band expects any other artist or band to follow them and I highly doubt that even Radiohead would put out their next recording in the same manner.

  • aldalk

    i think radiohead realized there is a community of people who prefer digital content as opposed to something tangible. also, and as radiohead stated, the pay-as-you-go was a sort of experiment, testing to see if ppl who prefer digital content also prefer to spend cash or just mooch. at the same time they realized that there was a community of ppl that liked the physical product as well. they did the smart thing and catered to both types of preferences. it was a success after all. they made over 2 million selling digitally (and good thing they even tried because some ppl just dont even go to the record store anymore like myself) and the in ranbows phsycial was #1 in the charts for a week or two in several countries. i call that a success.

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  • fakeplasticman

    the title says it all
    they’re way better than other bands, so the other bands will look bad :P

  • twentyseventh

    Ya, the only way Radiohead make other bands look bad is by making good music.

    Why do people expect Radiohead to save the music industry or something to that effect? They put out an album how they wanted to at the time, and any implications beyond that are simply what people project onto it.

  • kirrilly

    who cares if radiohead eventually released a cd? People still like cds.

  • Anupam

    Get over it; this is waaaay old news. I’d worry that Radiohead make other bands sound bad

  • Eric

    I’m tired of people not getting this. It is so obvious, RH did not do this as marketing or business: it was an artistic expression. The album In Rainbows is about choices and consequence, forgiveness and escape from consequence. Having the listener CHOOSE their price was an artistic trick – their living faustian choice for the listener….

  • poisoned_dwarf

    I agree with what most people here have said, except that Kim Gordon “hasn’t moved on.” The interviewer probably asked her something to the effect, “what do you think of the Radiohead model?” even though we all know it wasn’t a model. IT WAS AN EXPERIMENT, as everyone here has already said. Blame the interviewer not rock goddess Kim Gordon.

  • C’mon kids

    She’s right. Thom & co. knew very well what they’ve been doing. It was really selfish…

  • Todd

    I love Sonic Youth, and I still do, but I don’t think just because Radiohead did something unusual with the market means they are sellouts. And if anyone really believes Radiohead is a sell out band, they call me a fan of a sell out band. I don’t think they are. Neither is Sonic Youth. I mean it’s not like Radiohead are selling all their songs to commercials and all that stuff etc etc.

  • Robert

    Sonic Youth doesn’t need anyone else’s help to look bad. They do a pretty good job at it themselves.

  • spilbrm

    Sonic Youth’s music sucks anyway.
    Who cares what their singer things

  • Nathen

    She has a point, but its not like it was intentional, and its not like they’ve changed the music industry and made everyone try and release everything for free.
    PS. Sonic Youth are better than radiohead ;)

  • http://johngalantini.co.uk john galantini

    Christ!!!??? YOU’RE STILL GOING ON ABOUT THE PAY-WHAT-YOU-LIKE thing?? FUCK! stop living in the past you cunt.

  • evilhomer

    I really don’t understand the reference to Trent. He offered his ‘ghosts’ project as both a digital download and as a physical CD purchase. This is not profoundly different from Radiohead, who first put In Rainbows out as a download option and then as a physical CD option. So, why is Trent’s method more “tried and true” than Radiohead’s method? This doesn’t make sense. Both artists offered both a cheaper digital version and a slightly more expensive hard-copy version of their work. There may have been very subtle differences in their approaches, but ultimately it’s all the same to me.

  • Robert

    “PS. Sonic Youth are better than radiohead ”

    Nathan…..are you kidding me? Get off this site. Sonic Youth sucks! They will never ever be anywhere near as good as Radiohead. Thom Yorke has more talent in his pinky toe than Kim Gordon could ever dream of having?

  • http://www.colouredear.blogspot.com Marina

    One have to notice the particuliar relationship Radiohead has had with their record company. It’s been a really bad one since the first record because they were considered one hit wonders and were expected to respect a certain format which they didn’t do. It was not the case for Sonic Youth, their record company knew who they were and respected their choices. Radiohead has always seemed to desire an escape from that big mainstream smashing system and their stickers “buy this album”. I think that’s why they did this thing on line, but I might be wrong…

  • sd

    I’m a big sonic youth fan, I even like them more than radiohead and I don’t agree with with Kim Gordon’s statement. there are hundreds of artists who give stuff away for free and none knows em. there are real artists who have normal jobs and dont care about how much money they got to pay because they fucked up with an indie label. real artists only care about their music being listened.

    anyway. i dont agree with a few comments about how ‘sonic youth sucks’. theyre one of the best bands ever, and as some rh fans ask kim gordon to read into before making statements, i would love rh fans listening to sonic youth before saying it’s crap.

    x

  • Robert

    I’ve listened to Sonic Youth. They’re crap!

  • sd

    oh. me too.. they arent.. omg!

  • Matt

    Radiohead is better then most bands, Sonic Youth, was great back in the 90′s but now, Im not so sure! and yes this is old news, and was an experiment! not a model!

  • Michae;

    Well radiohead did what they did because it felt right for them at that time…… Personally I thing record labels are outdated and I would like to see every artist put their music for sale on their website for sale…it’s the future…get with it artists…or parish.

  • kow

    dear sonic youth,
    I’m gonna download your album for free anyway. and if I think your album deserves money i might send you a donation, and skip the funding that goes to the greedy record company. they don’t deserve it. cheers

  • Lyle

    I don’t think a crack hore that mumbles and babbles into a microphone along with distorted noise made by hitting a guitar with a baseball bat and running it through effects pedals should be taken seriously.

    What a low life idiot. Radiohead have always been some of the best human beings as well as musicians that I have ever known. They’re not interested in fucking marketing you stupid crack addict. She gets up on the stage completely high and babbles to the audience about the “decriminalization of women from corporations”. What the hell is that? It’s like the schizophrenic homeless man yelling about government conspiracies give us poison bananas.

    Now she opens her garbage can mouth to spew out a completely deluded pile of crap about one of the most purist, godly, Nobel, angelic, and righteous groups out there. I hope no one takes her seriously.

    Please, for all you sober non drug addicts out there, please disregard this deluded woman.

  • Jonny Yen

    Sonic Youth makes Radiohead sound like Hootie and the Blowfish.

    That is all.

  • Lucky Dog

    Smashing Pumpkins are doing what needs to be done. They’ve been putting out 44 songs one at a time for FREE and then releasing a physical product in between sets of songs. They released Machina II in 2001 for FREE before NIN/Radiohead started this trend. Oceania which will be 12 tracks (part of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope) will be released Sept. 1st, again for FREE. Fans can buy the physical release if they’d like. I only hope other bands adopt this model because many of us are willing to support them

  • Sena Mcentee

    I do this as well. No problem with accessing the library from different computers one at a time of course. But I had difficulties syncing my and my wifes iphone. I always get the error that is supposedly resolved by deleting the iPod cache file in the iPhoto package. It just does not seem to work for us…