Radiohead Subverts Download Model

The rock band gives fans a choice of downloading their new album at any price they want or paying for a CD discbox.

The British rock band Radiohead has always seemed uneasy with the business of music. For their new album, In Rainbows, to be released on October 10, they’ve declared their position – andit’s subversive.   Fans will be able to download the entire album from the band’s site for whatever they wish to pay (although there will bean administration fee of around 90 cents). Or, if they prefer, they can pre-order the discbox, as the band is calling it. This will consist of In Rainbows on CD and also on two 12” vinyl discs,along with artwork and lyrics, along with another CD of extra songs, artwork and more. This, however, isn’t quite as cheap, selling for $80 including postage.   This is the first releasefor the band since 2003’s Hail to the Thief, which fulfilled their contract with Parlophone.   Once news of the release appeared yesterday, the band’s site crashed – but it wasdue to fans putting in orders for the discbox rather than those waiting for the free download. On the site, band member Jonny Greenwood wrote,   “….it’s getting busy in there – busierthan they expected. So if you please bear with us, it should get cleared out soon. I sound like a bouncer. Get behind the rope. No denim. Thanks for your patience with the site & interest in therecord.”   It’s certainly a grand experiment, letting fans decide the value of a band’s new work, but it seems to be creating a trend. The Charlatans are also giving away theirnew single and album as downloads available only through the radio station Xfm.   Radiohead have a history of refusing to go with the flow. For several yearsthey refused to make their back catalogue available on iTunes, since the service allowed individual tracks to be downloaded, rather than insisting on theentire album. It’s only recently that their older material has become available on 7Digital.