Radiohead's Corporate Empire
April 30, 2016 12:26 PM Subscribe
It seems Radiohead are not so much a band as a conglomerate, having the sort of financial structure you would expect to be more associated with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs than bands from Oxfordshire. They have been directors of some 20 companies since they formed, according to Companies House. This is not just interesting for gossip. Radiohead’s financial structure shines a light on one of the lesser discussed facts of the music industry: if you want to be a great band, it can help if you are as good at finance as you are at music, or at least have a team supporting you who are. [SLGrauniad]
It's just like the film business, where the producer creates a company for each movie.
posted by w0mbat at 12:38 PM on April 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by w0mbat at 12:38 PM on April 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
In related news BURN THE WITCH IT IS HAPPENING LP9.
posted by Lutoslawski at 12:49 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Lutoslawski at 12:49 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Right. This is what bands have to do to defend themselves against Hollywood Accounting, song choices, and all the other nonmusical garbage the industry uses to deny artists control and remuneration. It's only possible after major success because the unsavory practices compose the gateway to promotion and distribution.
posted by rhizome at 1:17 PM on April 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 1:17 PM on April 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
Pro: cleaner finances, no one big faucet of money to get greedy about.
Con: new band/organization members more easily shut out of pre-existing revenue sources including touring.
Is that about right?
posted by michaelh at 1:24 PM on April 30, 2016
Con: new band/organization members more easily shut out of pre-existing revenue sources including touring.
Is that about right?
posted by michaelh at 1:24 PM on April 30, 2016
Kid IPO
posted by a lungful of dragon at 2:02 PM on April 30, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by a lungful of dragon at 2:02 PM on April 30, 2016 [9 favorites]
This article is so silly. They go to such great lengths to make it sound like they're doing something shady and secretive before concluding that it's just boring and sensible.
posted by speicus at 2:05 PM on April 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by speicus at 2:05 PM on April 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
OK Comptroller
posted by oceanjesse at 2:12 PM on April 30, 2016 [74 favorites]
posted by oceanjesse at 2:12 PM on April 30, 2016 [74 favorites]
Is there a point to this article beyond some vague insinuation that Radiohead are hypocrites for having lefty politics and (gasp) working within the existing system to maximize their income? Nothing about this seems particularly noteworthy to me.
posted by dialetheia at 2:12 PM on April 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by dialetheia at 2:12 PM on April 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
The article does seem a bit keen on this being bad In some unspecified way. Better to collapse in a heap of financial mismanagement?
posted by Artw at 2:24 PM on April 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 2:24 PM on April 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
gasp) working within the existing system to maximize their income?
Just like, say, GE or Apple, and no one ever criticizes them for legal tax arbitrage.
posted by jpe at 2:31 PM on April 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Just like, say, GE or Apple, and no one ever criticizes them for legal tax arbitrage.
posted by jpe at 2:31 PM on April 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
we await silent Tristero's conference call
posted by clockzero at 2:31 PM on April 30, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by clockzero at 2:31 PM on April 30, 2016 [14 favorites]
They do have really good names for their corporations, though I suppose I'd expect nothing less from Radiohead. Unsustainabubble LTD! LLLP LLP!
posted by strangely stunted trees at 2:42 PM on April 30, 2016
posted by strangely stunted trees at 2:42 PM on April 30, 2016
They didn't actually dig that far. There's more, but it's pretty boring (which is to say, none of this is news to fans, who have a lot of time on their hands between releases).
posted by jokeefe at 2:43 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by jokeefe at 2:43 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Funny, I read this yesterday, and I didn't see any attempt to paint Radiobead in a bad light. There's no sense that they're trying to avoid taxes, or hide their income.
The point seemed to be that they're acting like grown-ups that have had good advice about how not to go bankrupt while they run a small business with an uncertain shelf-life...which, as the article mentions is thoroughly unusual for a band.
I read it and thought "How cool is that? Radiobead probably won't be bankrupt in their old age, having to do jukebox tours to pay off their helicopter and cocaine debt."
posted by Kreiger at 2:44 PM on April 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
The point seemed to be that they're acting like grown-ups that have had good advice about how not to go bankrupt while they run a small business with an uncertain shelf-life...which, as the article mentions is thoroughly unusual for a band.
I read it and thought "How cool is that? Radiobead probably won't be bankrupt in their old age, having to do jukebox tours to pay off their helicopter and cocaine debt."
posted by Kreiger at 2:44 PM on April 30, 2016 [5 favorites]
This isn't unique to music. In order to be a *successful* artist you need to be great at both your art and the business of selling your art. Except, beware of making art with the intention of it being marketable... because then you're just accused of being a sellout.
posted by Blue_Villain at 2:49 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Blue_Villain at 2:49 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Kreiger, is "Radiobead" the 'internet of things' version of Radiohead?
posted by clockzero at 2:50 PM on April 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by clockzero at 2:50 PM on April 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
They work hard for the money so you better treat them right.
posted by GuyZero at 3:13 PM on April 30, 2016
posted by GuyZero at 3:13 PM on April 30, 2016
It's an interesting topic, but I hope when LP9 come out it merits its own FPP, because it'd really suck to have talk of their first album in five years corralled to a mostly unrelated days-old music business article.
posted by Rhaomi at 3:19 PM on April 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Rhaomi at 3:19 PM on April 30, 2016 [3 favorites]
As someone who deals all day with the drudgery of companies composed of the acronyms of directors' kids, or simple anonymous numbered companies, seeing companies named like W.A.S.T.E. Products or LLLP LLP is wonderfully refreshing. SEE, IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE, picking a name which is memorable and distinctive. REALLY.
posted by Capt. Renault at 4:11 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Capt. Renault at 4:11 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
"But I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here?"
"It's me, Dave. The accountant, remember?"
"I don't belong here."
"But this is your office..."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:01 PM on April 30, 2016 [6 favorites]
"It's me, Dave. The accountant, remember?"
"I don't belong here."
"But this is your office..."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:01 PM on April 30, 2016 [6 favorites]
At a better pace, slower and more calculated
No chance of escape, now self-employed
Concerned but powerless
An empowered and informed member of society
posted by hal9k at 5:31 PM on April 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
No chance of escape, now self-employed
Concerned but powerless
An empowered and informed member of society
posted by hal9k at 5:31 PM on April 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
clockzero, definitely. Look for our revolutionary RaaS play to disrupt the post-rock IoT space with a soft launch in Q4.
posted by Kreiger at 5:51 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Kreiger at 5:51 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
I am enjoying this thread where everyone's references to Radiohead are twenty years old
posted by beerperson at 6:01 PM on April 30, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by beerperson at 6:01 PM on April 30, 2016 [9 favorites]
I must admit that when I've thought of Radiohead recently it's been in relationship to Best Album of 95, where The Bends came second, getting beaten by Liquid Swords in the end.
posted by Artw at 6:07 PM on April 30, 2016
posted by Artw at 6:07 PM on April 30, 2016
The difference between a artist that manages their money and one that goes with the flow is staggering. People talk about "the business" ripping them off, but in most cases it's bad business practice on the part of the artist, they're not business people and don't realize the importance of finding people who are.
Artists that have hits, like star athletes, are basically lottery winners (actually a slang term used sometimes). Lots of lottery winners blow all their money through bad business decisions, maybe most. Some are taken advantage of, some hire the right people and keep their money.
posted by bongo_x at 7:15 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Artists that have hits, like star athletes, are basically lottery winners (actually a slang term used sometimes). Lots of lottery winners blow all their money through bad business decisions, maybe most. Some are taken advantage of, some hire the right people and keep their money.
posted by bongo_x at 7:15 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Interesting article! Thanks for the post, chavenet.
posted by Gerald Bostock at 8:32 PM on April 30, 2016
posted by Gerald Bostock at 8:32 PM on April 30, 2016
new bandmembers more easily shut out of pre-existing revenue sources including touring.
I liked the part where Metallica got a new bassist and gave him a million dollars.
posted by colie at 1:00 AM on May 1, 2016
I liked the part where Metallica got a new bassist and gave him a million dollars.
posted by colie at 1:00 AM on May 1, 2016
Is there a point to this article beyond some vague insinuation that Radiohead are hypocrites for having lefty politics and (gasp) working within the existing system to maximize their income? Nothing about this seems particularly noteworthy to me.Yeah. I read this as the Guardian passive aggressively concern trolling their own readers. Particularly the ones who flood the comments sections of Beyoncé articles with complaints that she embodies neoliberalism.
posted by Sonny Jim at 3:22 AM on May 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Great art cannot be created without great suffering.
Doesn't sound like Thom's suffering much. And when was the last time he produced anything memorable? (without involving Flea)
posted by passengera34 at 4:43 AM on May 1, 2016
Doesn't sound like Thom's suffering much. And when was the last time he produced anything memorable? (without involving Flea)
posted by passengera34 at 4:43 AM on May 1, 2016
I was employee #1 at a start-up in the 1980s, and the two directors and I went through the process of buying a company off the shelf and renaming it. The original company came from a sequentially numbered batch of Ingolbys - Ingolby 1, Ingolby 2 et seq - and we got Ingolby 148. It is hard to name a company, and we tried quite a few on for size. By the end, we'd grown so fond of Ingolby 148 we nearly kept it...
So I admire Radiohead's naming schema. They have the luxury of never needing the name to be a competitive brand in the murky submarine world of marketing slime-monsters... which means they can use the names to be part of their marketing nonetheless, just in a slyer anrd more fun way. Cf Culture ship names - tweak the rules in the right way, and it's a gift that never runs dry.
Marketing is the tax you pay on not being interesting.
posted by Devonian at 7:31 AM on May 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
So I admire Radiohead's naming schema. They have the luxury of never needing the name to be a competitive brand in the murky submarine world of marketing slime-monsters... which means they can use the names to be part of their marketing nonetheless, just in a slyer anrd more fun way. Cf Culture ship names - tweak the rules in the right way, and it's a gift that never runs dry.
Marketing is the tax you pay on not being interesting.
posted by Devonian at 7:31 AM on May 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
passengera34: "Great art cannot be created without great suffering.
Doesn't sound like Thom's suffering much."
August 2015: Radiohead singer Thom Yorke splits from partner after 23 years as he works on new album
They've got two kids, too. Amicable or not, that's a drastic life change.
"And when was the last time he produced anything memorable? (without involving Flea)"
December 2015: Spectre (previously). Not that the two are necessarily related, but they still got it.
posted by Rhaomi at 10:50 AM on May 1, 2016
Doesn't sound like Thom's suffering much."
August 2015: Radiohead singer Thom Yorke splits from partner after 23 years as he works on new album
They've got two kids, too. Amicable or not, that's a drastic life change.
"And when was the last time he produced anything memorable? (without involving Flea)"
December 2015: Spectre (previously). Not that the two are necessarily related, but they still got it.
posted by Rhaomi at 10:50 AM on May 1, 2016
Great art cannot be created without great suffering.
I really wish this myth would die.
posted by rhizome at 12:28 PM on May 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
I really wish this myth would die.
posted by rhizome at 12:28 PM on May 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
And to think what great art will be made when it does!
posted by a lungful of dragon at 3:20 PM on May 1, 2016
posted by a lungful of dragon at 3:20 PM on May 1, 2016
In other Radiohead news, throughout the course of today they've erased all of their internet presence, after sending cryptic flyers to some fans.
posted by Fig at 5:52 PM on May 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Fig at 5:52 PM on May 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
In other Radiohead news, throughout the course of today they've erased all of their internet presence, after sending cryptic flyers to some fans.
With an embossed Modified Bear, even. Curiouser and curiouser...
posted by pianoblack at 8:35 AM on May 2, 2016
With an embossed Modified Bear, even. Curiouser and curiouser...
posted by pianoblack at 8:35 AM on May 2, 2016
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYEYSYESYESyesyesyesyesyesYESYESYESYES I love it
posted by maudlin at 9:05 AM on May 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by maudlin at 9:05 AM on May 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
« Older Or, disdyakis triacontahedron | "There's no point in writing it all down if nobody... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Artw at 12:36 PM on April 30, 2016 [1 favorite]