Interestingly the discussions focus on what to pay for the music. I have a different view.
A few (denied) reports suggested that two thirds of people "bought" the album for $0. I think that ignores the point that despite the website suggesting strongly you could have it for free, one third of people still paid money for it.
But as I said, the numbers have been denied. We may never know how many people downloaded the album and paid for it.
Even more interesting is that a huge majority of people still pirated the album from torrent websites. When you can get the album for free in a digital format direct from the band officially and legally, why pirate it? Because it's easier (one click)? Or because heaps of pack-rats just download everything new that comes along without thinking?
I think the most interesting number to watch in the future is just how well the CD version of this album sells when it comes out near the end of the year.
Will Radiohead manage to obtain good sales for an album they have already effectively given away for free, had reviewed thousands of times both negatively and positively in both real and online press? If they do, what does it tell us? People prefer CD? People are happy to pay for both digital and CD? That the internet audience for digital music is nothing compared to those that still prefer real CDs? That everyone that bought it loved it so much they want it in lossless format and not 192kbps MP3?
How many Radiohead fans out there don't already have the album?
How many fans are going to be willing to buy something in real form they already have in digital form?
If only every CD sale came with a filled in questionnaire from the fan explaining why...
To me, the official digital release of the album was an official pre-release leak with full band control. It would have been leaked anyway, so why not do it themselves? The option for paying to download the "leak" was little more than a tip system to pay them for the trouble.
I think the reasons so many people paid for the download at all had more to do with respect for what the band was doing, than it did for the music they were buying. Music they hadn't heard it.
Something else glossed over is that in order to buy the album online originally was that you had to sign up (email) and indicate how much you wanted to pay for it. It's even more stunning that anyone paid anything for an album they'd never heard before.
A band came out and said "you want to hear our album? how much are you willing to pay for it?" And thousands of people paid. Just to HEAR IT. Because that's all digital music lets you do.
You don't own anything.
It's a huge indication of the trust the band's fans have for the band. They trust that despite never having heard an album, they're willing to pay them for the chance to hear it.
Stunning.