There's no doubt that the Internet has changed the music industry and in some ways that the big record labels don't like very much. In much the same way that Hollywood once "owned" their stars under contracts that gave the studios complete control over their actors' careers and even publicity, so the record labels for decades dictated what albums would be produced, what songs could appear and how they were distributed. Finally, recording artists can take their own product directly to the public and one of the industries biggest bands is doing so.
Thom York of Radiohead
Radiohead's new album In Rainbows is being distributed via the Internet exclusively. They are not currently under contract to any label and so are producing the album themselves and distributing it via their website. Pre-orders are being taken now but the download won't be available until October 10th.
What makes this sale slightly different is that Radiohead has set no price and asks fans to pay what they want to pay. You decide how much to pay for the album download, the price is blank for the customer to fill in. Radiohead may not be the first band to give away their music on the internet, but they are the biggest band to date that has done this.
There may be some who will take advantage of the offer and decide to pay nothing (although there could be some nominal fees) but it is also as likely that true fans will cough up a decent price for the band's seventh release.
There is a premium product, the Discbox, which costs £40. The Discbox includes the additional digital download. Don't worry, a currency converter will help you sort it out if you aren't in the UK.
Thom York of Radiohead
Radiohead's new album In Rainbows is being distributed via the Internet exclusively. They are not currently under contract to any label and so are producing the album themselves and distributing it via their website. Pre-orders are being taken now but the download won't be available until October 10th.
What makes this sale slightly different is that Radiohead has set no price and asks fans to pay what they want to pay. You decide how much to pay for the album download, the price is blank for the customer to fill in. Radiohead may not be the first band to give away their music on the internet, but they are the biggest band to date that has done this.
There may be some who will take advantage of the offer and decide to pay nothing (although there could be some nominal fees) but it is also as likely that true fans will cough up a decent price for the band's seventh release.
There is a premium product, the Discbox, which costs £40. The Discbox includes the additional digital download. Don't worry, a currency converter will help you sort it out if you aren't in the UK.