Hot Chip Unsure About Giving Away Free Music

BY Cam LindsayPublished May 8, 2008

In the midst of a boom that finds big name acts giving away music for the hell of it (read: marketing strategy to make you remember them and spend money on them other ways), Hot Chip have spoken for the little people who can't simply afford to release an album free of charge.

Speaking with BBC Radio One's Newsbeat, singer Alexis Taylor said the sudden wave of free music brought on by million-selling artists like Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and Coldplay is confusing the music industry even more.

"It's a strange one but I think at the moment no-one knows what's really going on and the record companies are really searching for a new way to do business," he said. "It's all kind of in turmoil and people are just trying things out. Probably in the next couple of years we'll see a new kind of business emerging."

More to the point, however, Taylor singled out smaller artists that just don't have the notoriety or money to compete with a Radiohead or Coldplay.

"People can get music for free on the net so to give it away to people and admit that is a sensible thing," Taylor said. "Big artists like that can make their money in other ways and they can still have a great career.

"But it only really works if you're a massive act. If we turned around and offered our single for free I don't know how many people would bother."

Hot Chip "One Pure Thought"

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