When Radiohead invited their fans to pay as much - or as little - as they liked for a digital download of their new album, In Rainbows, it was hailed as the beginning of a new era for the struggling record industry.
So what then, was the ultimate value of the ground-breaking album and its test of the constraints of the digital age? Around £2.90, it would seem.
Research revealed yesterday that a mere 38% of people downloading the album were willing to part with anything at all. Two thirds paid only the 45p charge for handling, according to ComScore, a digital measurement group.
During the first 29 days of October, 1.2 million people worldwide visited the In Rainbows site, with a significant percentage of visitors ultimately downloading the album.
It was widely seen as the most high-profile attempt yet to restructure the economics of a music industry struggling with the effects of digital piracy.
clipped from: www.guardian.co.uk