The MBAs Involved in Thom Yorke’s Innovative Album Release: MBA News

By Tim Dhoul Updated Dec 04, 2019

Save

Introduction
Radiohead provides example of Oxford MBA summer consultancy projects

Oxford MBA students worked with Radiohead's management on album release

Download a free copy of the 2014/15 QS TopMBA Jobs & Salary Trends Report

Image: Nikola Spasenoski / Shutterstock.com

Oxford MBA students at Saïd Business School met with Radiohead’s management company ahead of last month’s release of Thom Yorke’s second solo album.

The album in question, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes, caught the attention of the music industry by foregoing the likes of Amazon and Spotify in favor of being sold solely through BitTorrent, a file sharing platform of the ilk associated with illegal downloading. However, in this case it is allowing people to purchase music directly from the artist.

It was an innovative approach to an album release, and one for which Radiohead’s management company sought the advice of a team of Oxford MBA students on matters of user experience, media strategy and financial analysis.

Not only were they able to make their recommendations, but the students were also able to learn from a music outfit known for its willingness to take risks when looking for new ways to distribute music. For example, Radiohead’s album of seven years ago, In Rainbows, was put out for download to fans at a price of their choosing, even if that choice was nothing.

“We were able to witness first-hand the success Radiohead has had by continually innovating outside of the major label system. Radiohead and its team are bold, creative, fearless people who are willing to take risks, and working with them was inspiring for all of us,” said Phil Barry, Oxford MBA 2013/14 and member of the consulting team.

Radiohead provides example of Oxford MBA summer consultancy projects

For the students, working on Thom Yorke and Radiohead’s vision represented their eight-week experiential consultancy project, a summer option as part of the Oxford MBA, where student groups are teamed up with sponsoring organizations who have a specific challenge for them to tackle.

This team formed from their shared backgrounds in music and, by the project’s conclusion they had also developed some possible models for future Radiohead or Thom Yorke releases.

“It was immensely useful to have the input of the MBA students on data analysis and new marketing strategies,” said Radiohead’s management company, Courtyard Management.

Other artists have used BitTorrent in the past, but usually only to give away freebies. Seminal hip hop group De La Soul, for instance, made a digital mixtape and documentary film about producer, J Dilla, available on the platform according to the Guardian. But, BitTorrent confirmed that Thom Yorke’s album was the first to require payment before an album could be downloaded.

Its price of US$6, just 10% of which is taken by BitTorrent, attracted more than a million downloads within a week of its release.

Written by

Tim Dhoul

Tim is a writer with a background in consumer journalism and charity communications. He trained as a journalist in the UK and holds degrees in history (BA) and Latin American studies (MA).