Radiohead's In Rainbows Not Worth Much, According To Study

Industry hand-wringing over Radiohead's pick-your-price sales scheme for In Rainbows continues with the release of a study speculating on the album's digital sales figures by Virginia-based ComScore Inc.

The study shows that while the format was indeed innovative, folks weren't exactly heaving dollars at Thom Yorke.

The study found that worldwide, 62 per cent of listeners downloaded the album for free, while of those that did pay, American buyers were willing to pay more than their international counterparts.

While 60 per cent of Americans and 64 per cent of international listeners who downloaded the album did so at no cost, the average American who purchased it paid $8.05 US, while the international average was $4.64 US.

After the percentage that paid nothing for the album, the next largest buying group, at 17 per cent, paid between one penny and $4, while 12 per cent shelled out between $8-12, the average cost of a digitally downloaded album in North America, and constituted more than half of all album sales in total dollars.

ComScore based this study on a global cross-section of more than two million consumers who have granted the company permission to confidentially record their browsing and transaction behaviour, including online and offline purchasing.