Brilliant move. What nobody mentions is that very little band revenue comes from their recorded output. The record labels are only a "bank" to the band--fronting the initial recording costs against future revenue. All studio production goes against their royalties in the traditional record model, which in Radiohead's EMI case, net revenue remaining is then deluded six ways by each band member.
Bands make the bulk of their revenue from live touring and merchandise, plus any endorsement revenue, song placement or songwriting royalties. Albums generally bring pennies to each artist, and with peer-to-peer networking, the days of sales exceeding 5 million units are gone.
This move is brilliant. They bypass any label and only have to cover production costs. They own their own studio and recording rig, so now it is a pure time play--whatever revenue gained must cover this and only this. No overhead--all the buzz comes from the novelty of the promotion which is generating huge publicity. The two dollars listed above would far exceed any royalty. Zero is just a lost leader for the tours to follow.
