Radiohead

Following Radiohead

U.K. newspaper the Telegraph has been giving lots of coverage to Radiohead's recent decision to offer its next album on a bid-for-download basis, with lots of breathless headlines. Some of the paper's analysis seems overly simplistic to me--the labels were in trouble before Radiohead's move, and younger kids buy plenty of CDs and downloads, just not from flavor-of-the-minute pop artists like they did five years ago. But the coverage emphasizes how much Radiohead's move is shaking up the music industry.

Today, the paper reports rumors that Oasis (who have the #3 all-time seller in the … Read more

First Radiohead...now Nine Inch Nails bids adieu to music label

Less than a month after publicly calling executives at his music label unprintable names, rocker Trent Reznor has signaled that his days of working for a record company are over.

The only official member of the band Nine Inch Nails, Reznor announced Monday that the group is now "free of any recording contract with any label." Representatives from Reznor's music label, Universal Music Group, were unavailable for comment.

Reznor provided few details in a note on the band's Web site about how the group plans to proceed, but his announcement raised hopes among fans that he … Read more

Beta goes meta: From innovation to trend in a heartbeat

David Armano from Critical Mass will moderate a panel on "Always in Beta: How Big Business Can Benefit from 'Little' Innovation" at the Forrester Consumer Forum (October 10 to 13). Here's a quick synopsis: "Innovation isn't limited to R & rooms anymore. The Web 2.0 movement--powered by start-ups such as Twitter, Malhalo and even YouTube, has proven that innovation often happens in iterations. Build, launch, tweak, measure, repeat. Digital experiences seem to be 'always in beta'--learning and evolving along the way."

The fact that the Forrester Consumer Forum dedicates a panel to … Read more

Radiohead: music for nothing

Now here's an innovation: "music on demand," in the truest sense of the meaning. Radiohead, the juggernauts of intelligentsia rock, announced that they will give away their new album "In Rainbows" as a download for whatever price consumers are willing to pay. The band is free to sell the new album directly from the official website because it is no longer tied to a record label. So far, the album is only available to pre-order, but it can be downloaded when released on October 10.

It's not the first time that an artist or … Read more

The Queue: Would you pay to watch?

MMMMmmmm... nothing like the Razr2, a Mercedes-Benz and destruction in Russia to spice up a commute. Plus, we check in on a really easy to use VOIP service and would you pay to download music if you didn't have to? Radiohead hopes you will.

Get The Queue:

[CNET TV] Check out the page on CNET TV

[iTunes] Subscribe to our podcast in iTunes

Show Notes:

RAZR2 marketing stunt[Via Engadget]

NetBank cashes in

High-end media elites

JahJah

Radiohead's "donationware" album

TheQueue[at]CNET.com

Radiohead: who needs a label?

Radiohead and its record label, EMI, parted ways in 2005 after the band fulfilled the terms of its contract. The assumption among fans and industry types was that the band was shopping for a new label, and a new album was supposedly slated for 2008.

Today, Radiohead posted a terse entry on its official Web site announcing that its next album, In Rainbows, would be available for sale on Oct. 10. Sort of.

That is, fans will be able to download digital versions of the 10 album tracks on that date. Not from iTunes or Amazon or any other music … Read more

Episode 572: AT&T, your world, censored

Radiohead's new album could be watershed moment for music

Editor's note: This blog initially misstated the format of the Prince album giveaway. They were CDs.

Radiohead, the band known for the hit songs "Creep," "Bullet Proof" and "Paranoid Android," announced on its Web site Sunday evening that fans can pay whatever they want for the band's new album, In Rainbows.

In addition to the digital version of In Rainbows, the group is also offering a boxed set of two 12-inch LPs and two CDs with artwork enclosed in a customized sleeve, for about $80. The site says that the merchandise will … Read more

How much will you pay for open-source Radiohead?

I just pre-paid $20 for the newest Radiohead album (available on October 10). Radiohead, now without a label/ball and chain, has decided to let its fans choose how much to pay the company. I'm actually feeling cheap right now, even though I'd pay $10.00 or less on iTunes (if Radiohead sold through iTunes, which it doesn't, because of a somewhat silly "artistic integrity" argument).

How much will you pay? It's nice to think of all the money going to Thom and crew, rather than to a Larry in a lounge suit somewhere in Los Angeles. Just as I'd prefer to pay Marten Mickos for my database than Larry Ellison. :-) But that's not the only open-source analog here.… Read more

Will ad-supported music catch on?

Digital Music News posted a short piece yesterday on a forthcoming venture called RCRD LBL.

First reported by the New York Post, RCRD LBL is a planned venture by Engadget founder Peter Rojas and Downtown Records founder Peter Deutsch. High-quality brands, both. The idea is simple: users will get exclusive music for free, and the company (and artists) will earn money by selling advertisements and sponsorships. Rumored artists include Radiohead singer Thom Yorke; Gnarls Barkely, the creators of 2006's catchiest single Gnarls Barkley; and DJ Mark Ronson, who's perhaps best known for his cover versions of popular songs, … Read more