Oct
2
Radiohead In Rainbows
Radiohead are releasing their new album independently from their own website. They give you two options: you can purchase a deluxe collector’s edition (which includes CD and vinyl!) for £40, or you can download the album for…get this: any price you want. Really. Put the digital download in your basket and see what happens.
I’ve been hoping that this sort of business model would take off for a while. It makes so much sense: put out a premium version for your die-hard fans that includes something that can’t be copied on the web (like an autograph, or in this case, the book and vinyl), and then put the download out there without DRM. The artist gets paid, and the record industry gets what they deserve: nothing.
From the article:
This is what happens when you sell twenty dollar CDs with one good track and sue your customers for trading P2P. This is what happens when you believe you’re ENTITLED to your business. This is what happens when music is a second-class citizen only interested in the bottom line.
