The popular English rock band Radiohead released its seventh album, "In Rainbows," on October 10 as an MP3 download available from its official web site (www.radiohead.com). This album has taken more time (five years) to release than any other album in the band's career. The price? There isn't one.
For the first time, Radiohead has decided not to release an album in accordance with a contract or release deadline. The band's last album, "Hail to the Thief," was released in 2003 with EMI. The band said in 2006 that "It's both liberating and terrifying" to not be bound to a contract. Thom Yorke, the band's lead singer, seemed disappointed with EMI and commented, "What we would like is the old EMI back again, the nice genteel arms manufacturers who treated music [as] a nice side project, who weren't too bothered about the shareholders. Ah well, not much chance of that."
Radiohead plans to release the album via the more traditional and conventional means of a standard compact disc version in early 2008 through a contract that is yet to be finalized. A special "discbox," similar to a "collector's edition," of the new album will be released on December 3 and will include the physical album on both CD and two 12- inch heavyweight vinyl records, an additional enhanced CD with eight extra tracks, and booklets of digital photos, lyrics, and artwork all packaged in a hardcover book and slipcase. Radiohead has placed a lot of trust in their fans by asking for simply a donation to be determined by the fan in compensation.
When downloading "In Rainbows" from the site, a prompt will ask how much money you are willing to donate, if any. Many speculate this to be a more effective way of gaining profits, as fans who have admitted to only using piracy as a means of obtaining music have paid 20 euros (approximately $28) or more for the download. In light of how many people are downloading music off person-to-person networks such as Limewire or BitTorrent, this radical move by Radiohead does make sense.
The band's decision to release its album via the Internet may seem radical, but it was not an unexpected move. Radiohead has been incredibly strict about maintaining the importance of the entire album rather than separate songs. It was one of the few bands that refused to have its music put on Apple's iTunes Music Store. The band members wanted their work to be purchased and enjoyed as an entire album, and not broken up into individual songs.
Radiohead has had a very successful career. With five consecutive Grammy nominations for Best Alternative Album, and a top-selling name for more than 15 years, the personal fortunes of the individual band members will not be put at great risk.
Whether or not other bands will follow in Radiohead's footsteps and turn away from more traditional means of releasing albums in favor of appealing to the loyalty of their fans will say a lot about the direction in which the music industry is heading. Radiohead may have just created a revolutionary idea that could be the future of releasing albums in this new era of free access to music.