Enjoy.
First off, I think Radiohead is doing this to help drum up some interest in their upcoming release. They've already built their fanbase, so there really isn't much risk there (the fans will buy). So, they try to get new fans with the "whatever anyone wants to pay" idea. They expect any new fans will most likely go out and buy the back catalog. If the band needs more money, touring is much more lucrative anyway (generally speaking).
For indie bands that want to increase sales, the steps are the same for everyone:
- Figure out your market. Who is going to buy your product, and where are these people? If you cannot answer this, you are already going to have trouble.
- Make the best product you can afford to, and hopefully better than others in your market. When asking people to spend money on your product, you need to offer them value. Putting out a poor quality product will not keep customers. Compare your product to others in your market, and improve as much as you can.
- Get visible. If you are hocking a CD, send it out for reviews and get it on local "consignment" shelves. Play shows where your customer base is. If there isn't a place to play, you will have much more trouble getting interest. Customers are out there, but you need to find them. Most are not looking for you.
An alternative is to think outside the normal ideas. Find places where your product or performance would fit, yet isn't a place that anyone else has tried. If you have a CD that follows a certain topic (say, pets), maybe you could talk with a specialty store about working together (say, perform at the pet store). If you have a comedy CD, try open mic night at a comedy club.
One of the big problems is that most indie artists think the world is waiting for their great new CD. Trouble is, the "great" new CD is typically well below industry quality standards. Anyone can burn a CD-R and scribble a name on it, but that isn't going to get many return customers. People want some quality for their money. They tend to forget about what prevents them from buying other artists product, and then figure out how to work around that with your own customers.
I know local musician who spend over $50,000 on his CD recording, back in 1999. It's a fantastic sounding disc, full of good music. However, the CD didn't get any response from local media. Nobody knew the guys name, and he wasn't playing shows anywhere. Recently, he has started playing more (almost every weekend, all around the midwest), and just this past week ordered his second run of 1000 discs (and he still has no media support). That's almost 8 years to move 1000 CDs of a high quality recording. He didn't start moving more product until he got in front of more people. As far as I know, he still hasn't broken even on the cost of the project.
The major labels want you to believe that they can market your product for you, and you'll get sales simply because you are on a major. Trouble is, majors release hundreds (maybe even thousands) of CDs a year, and very few ever break even.
If you are an artist on a label, you'll make about $1 per CD sold, after recouping product costs (and that's optimistic).
If you are an artist that is still indie, you can make much more per CD sold, and recoup costs much faster (due to none of the major label overhead).
Indies can make a living much easier, if they stay away from major labels. However, they do have to do all their own marketing work. Major labels will only want artists that can make them money, so they won't spend much effort on artists that aren't already selling units.
I don't believe that CD sales are actually declining, as much as reporting wants us to believe. I believe the market has simply diversified more, and customers are now buying more product direct from artists. Artists aren't putting bar codes on all their releases or registering the bar codes, so SoundScan isn't seeing the sales. Reports are saying "sales declining", when in reality they just aren't seeing the actual numbers.
Music downloads have made a small mark on the industry, but haven’t made any major impact (despite Rolling Stone’s reporting). The general music customer isn’t yet satisfied spending $10 for a “virtual” version of a CD, rather than having a physical product in hand for the same money. I believe things like iTunes have brought back the “single” as a valid option, and that has helped. But, most of the consumer market isn’t jumping on this yet either.
As an indie artist, you've got to find customers for a physical product (now downloads). If there are no customers for your product, you might need to seriously consider making some changes. Assuming there are customers buying similar products from other artists, you then just need to find out how to sell to those customers.
You say “But those bands that are struggling, no one has heard of them. No one goes to their site to buy their CD. Grassroots only goes so far, mostly into your neighborhood, etc. How can they increase sales? That’s my question.” I say, this sort of band isn’t doing all they can to get their name out there. If they are not making themselves visible to the market, nobody will find them. Get some reviews published (online or magazines), play some shows (even free ones on a street corner), give away some products, etc. You’ve got to build your fanbase, and get them to tell their friends. If you can’t motivate people about your own product, you are going to have difficulty. We all know people are buying CDs.
Bottom Line: Many indie bands are doing very well, without downloads. It can be done on your own, but you’ve got to take action. Indies are essentially running their own small business. If you don’t treat it like a business, you’ll have trouble.
