If you want to know where popular music will be in five years, just pay attention what Radiohead is doing right now.
The quintet of trailblazers from Oxford, England have done it again. The band that signaled the blend of electronic music with alternative rock has now made the first move towards an entirely new system of marketing music. Radiohead released their new album, In Rainbows, on Oct. 10.
But the band presented only one option – the only way to obtain the album is via download from the band’s website. Buyers’ options become nearly unlimited with the next step, however: buyers get to name their own price to purchase In Rainbows. That’s right, it’s your call. Being the broke college student that I am, I paid the bare minimum the website would allow ($3, or ?1, plus a very small handling charge). I didn’t feel too bad about being cheap, seeing that I paid $125 for a single ticket to see Radiohead in 2006. It also doesn’t hurt that they’re one of the richest and most popular bands in the world.
For those of you who want something more, fear not: Radiohead is releasing In Rainbows as a box-set of sorts in December; for $82 (or ?40) you can purchase an extravagant packaged deal including a CD copy of the album, a bonus disc featuring eight bonus tracks, a copy of the album on heavyweight vinyl, a hardcover book, and a plethora of lyrics and photographs. For those of you who don’t have $82 but still want something tangible, don’t fret: it’s been rumored that Radiohead is considering a January 2008 proper release of the CD, available at regular music stores.
Legally downloading In Rainbows was like tearing open the biggest present under the Christmas tree. Even though it’s only 10 songs, I’m not even going to attempt to review the album after only a few listens. While the instrumentation is much more sparse and minimal compared to past Radiohead albums, In Rainbows is a very complex piece of art. It may take a while for the full effect of the album to sink in, but I’ll note a few of my first impressions:
The Willie Roys, Joe Bearors, and other famously huge Radiohead fans of the world may recognize the song “Nude.” Formerly known as “Big Ideas,” this song has been around for more than 10 years, and it finally finds it’s place on an official release.
“Nude” has gone through several changes before being heard as it is today. I had the pleasure of hearing “Nude” and a handful of other new songs in concert a year ago, including “Arpeggi”, “Videotape”, and “15 Step,” the album’s funky opener. “Faust ARP” and “Bodysnatchers” were two obvious stand-outs upon a first few listens. Thom Yorke’s voice is in top form, and it’s also apparent that drummer Phil Selway is much more prominently featured than in the past. He’s as steady as a metronome but as explosive as a car bomb, and he holds the album together.
This is an important album in the history of popular music. Time will tell whether or not Radiohead’s drastically new approach to selling music will become the standard process, but it’s important for listeners to realize that this may be an amazingly innovative idea; the download method might be a rarity.
Radiohead is able to take such a risk for three reasons: because they’re one of the most popular bands in the world; they’re free of a record deal and can do what they please, even if this album is a commercial flop and fails to generate a profit, and because Radiohead is rich enough to afford a slight decrease in revenue. It would be nearly impossible for most independent bands to release music in such a manner, but that’s just one reason why Radiohead towers above the rest.