Free Radiohead

In the lite of a recent win for the RIAA in a lawsuit against a file-sharer, Radiohead has released its new album In Rainbows via digital download, free to everyone. Donations are taken upon download, all amounts are taken.

The band is now label-less, making all donations go directly to the music. Those who want a better quality version of the album will need to wait until December to get the $80 Double CD/Vinyl box set. Songs are now being distributed as MP3's with a 160kbps sample rate. (Not the greatest quality available to MP3 players).

To download the album, visit www.inrainbows.com.

This is fucking great! Radiohead is giving a big middle finger to the mainstream record industry and will probably make a killing. I've been reading a lot on the blogs about this type of marketing and it seems to be very successful. Some musicians say they make more when they distribute their album as donation only instead of charging $9.99. in their own words,

"It’s really liberating not to feel part of the record company structures. It should be an extremely positive place to be in but I think at the moment it’s like the cartoon bit when Roadrunner comes of the cliff and keeps running - then looks down."