Anyway, the big news in music is the new Radiohead album. I'm sure most of you know the deal but I'll summarise for those who don't.'In Rainbows' is out on Wednesday 10th October through Radiohead's site as a download-only album. However, the band has let the consumer choose how much they want to pay for the album. You could pay a tenner, a fiver or a quid for it - it's up to you.
Fans can also choose to pay £40 for a discbox which includes the album as a download, the CD version of it, a bonus CD of extra new material, a vinyl copy of the album and extra artwork. This will all be shipped in December.
Radiohead are also doing this as an unsigned band with no record label backing. It's astonishing and it's challenging the way the music industry thinks about distributing music. It also asks the consumer a question, simply: 'How much would you want to pay for a CD?'
It also supports the model of Alan McGee, who nows manages The Charlatans (who incidentally are giving away an album for free). He believes that the current business model for selling music is redundant and believes that concerts and merchandise are the only ways that bands could get income. In the case of Radiohead, whose tours sell out in roughly under five minutes, it's an extremely accurate theory.
As for the music itself, the tracklisting sounds promising. I saw some of them in demo form live last year and they certainly had promise. I'm really looking forward to hearing 'Videotape' on record. It's as moving as 'Exit Music (For A Film)' and features some of the best lyrics ever written by Thom Yorke.
Music aside, the idea is great and I wonder what will come out of it.
Radiohead
DIGG!
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