CONVERGING MEDIA

Case Study

360 Degrees of Music

As digital innovations change the music industry and major record labels continue to consolidate, artists have begun looking for new ways to establish themselves—or to simply stay afloat. In 2007, the British alternative rock group Radiohead sold its new album In Rainbows on the Internet—for whatever price fans wished to pay, including nothing. While many downloaders took the album for free, many others paid. One study estimated that Radiohead made an average of $2.26 on each download. If that’s true, it may have raked in more money per recording than the royalties typically earned by an artist on a major label release.¹

This direct-distribution model sent shock waves through the recording industry. But while Radiohead’s self-released album confirmed the band’s autonomy, not all artists can afford that degree of independence. As Radiohead themselves have pointed out, it was their preexisting popularity, arguably assisted by their time on a major label, that allowed them their experiment.²

As such, many acts still look for support when it comes to increasing their revenue in the face of declining album sales. This search for new methods of distribution and money-making has led to the adoption of a new paradigm for contracting recording artists: the 360-degree deal. Defined by legal scholar Sara Karubian as “a legal contract between a musical artist and one company incorporating components of an artist’s career that have traditionally been handled by separate contracts with different companies,” the 360-degree deal gives a single corporation control over everything from merchandising and publishing to endorsements and touring.³ This multiplatform convergence is contractual, turning music distribution companies into publishers, merchandisers, and event bookers.

Such 360-degree deals could give artists a chance to centralize and maximize their revenue at a time when they can no longer depend on album royalties alone. But these deals are not unambiguously good; they could also shift power back to conglomerates at a time when more indie labels have gained traction. As with the decision to sign to a major label, artists will need to decide whether the potential benefits outweigh the risks. Some artists may be content to become “middle-class” touring bands, making a little money off albums and singles but using them primarily to promote their live shows and accompanying merchandise. Media convergence has made this middle-class existence a more viable alternative for many acts that would have, in more label-dominated years, been forced to produce a huge hit or face obscurity.

Other music acts with large enough fan bases may follow Radiohead’s lead and handle their career without contracted label backing (though physical CD distribution is usually handled through a third party regardless—while Radiohead self-released their 2011 album King of Limbs, it, like In Rainbows, was released as a CD via the label TBD Records). In these cases, artists are allowing multiple media to converge into their own hands. Whether through 360-degree deals, middle-class touring careers, or a self-releasing strategy, convergence is changing the way many musicians make money.