Thom Yorke + Bittorrent = $26 million?

Turns out 4.4 million Bittorrent downloads between the end of September 2014 and the end of the year can be pretty profitable – with a 90-10% split of revenue in favour of the artist.

Only flaw is that there’s no breakdown between free and paid downloads, so $26 million is the potential maximum, and the potential minimum could be $0. Matthew Ingram quotes a 50% payment rate for a figure of $20 million, which seems potentially a little high, although hardcore fans tend to convert better than random strangers. Still, shows experimentation can be profitable if you have a big enough following. (Source: GigaOm)