Warner Chappell Finds Pot of Gold At End of Radiohead's Rainbow

By Eriq Gardner

Warner Chappell’s head of business affairs Jane Dyball announced at a conference in Iceland the final numbers in from Radiohead's "In Rainbows" experiment. Seems like a million years ago, but you'll recall that the band let consumers name their own price to buy the album and then later licensed Warner to distribute it through traditional online and retail channels. At the time, some hailed the move as a potential new business model in the post-piracy age.

Turns out that Radiohead and Warner found some success.

Dyball reported that "In Rainbows" sold 1.75 million copies of the physical CD (better than the band's last album), 100,000 boxsets, and 30,000 units on iTunes in the US in the first week of availability. Dyball also said the digital income from the experiment made a material difference in Warner Chappell's revenue this year.

In other music news, the RIAA has decided to appeal U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis' recent decision to overturn a $222,000 verdict against alleged music pirate Jammie Thomas. The decision made waves because it set aside the only trial to reach verdict in the RIAA's aggressive litigation campaign against individual pirates.

The decision also upped the ante for plaintiffs by requiring them to demonstrate actual distribution of copyrighted materials, not merely "making available" music on P-to-P forums. Judge Davis sent the case back to trial, but the RIAA wants an appeals court to take a look at the order first.