Radiohead: comScore's Numbers Are Wrong

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

November 9, 2007, 11:26 AM

comScore's report that only 40 percent of Radiohead fans paid anything for the band's album download is now being challenged by the band itself.

In a statement provided to MTV and without giving exact figures, the band described comScore's findings as "wholly inaccurate." Since the sale was done on a private site, there would have been no way for anyone to know truly how the album sold.

According to the comScore report released earlier in the week, about 40 percent of US users paid for the album, and handed over an average of $8.05. Overseas, 36 percent paid, however only about $4.64 per download.

comScore representatives are standing by their findings, saying they were confident in the results. "There's a minimal margin of error based on the size of the sample we used and the narrow range of values," senior analyst Andrew Lipsman told MTV.

With no real data from Radiohead, it now essentially becomes a matter of he-said-she-said, as the only confirmation or denial are the dueling statements of the two sides. From statements in the press, we may never know exactly how many digital albums sell either, because the band says those figures are "not for public consumption."

The band is not the only one saying the numbers aren't correct. Globe and Mail technology writer Matthew Ingram is saying the same thing.

"As with most traffic-measuring firms, comScore also has a certain methodology that may or may be entirely accurate," he wrote on his personal weblog. "It's not clear what the survey was based on or how the firm got the numbers it is using."