Radiohead Fans Have Collective Mushy Moment
October 10, 2007
The long awaited release of Radiohead’s follow-up to Hail to the Thief (2003) was on my iPod (and in my ears) 3 minutes after it was released to the world. 3 minutes. I didn’t have to wait in line at a Best Buy in the morning or wait for the UPS guy to deliver my pre-ordered album. No sir. I downloaded it instantly along with millions of other fans.
Radiohead has always been an envelope pusher; trying to bend and break the system. Outspoken about ticketing agencies and record label ripoffs, it was huge when Radiohead’s deal with long-time label EMI ended. Many people figured that an off-label release was imminent.
Quietly on September 30th, Radiohead announced they were releasing their album on October 10th with a link to InRainbows.com. The album would only be available on the website. Anyone in the world could purchase a discbox which features a bonus CD with 9 extra tracks and two vinyl versions of the album, or just purchase the download to be available the day of the release.
Most fans, like myself, bought the discbox, which also included a download link. However, fans who bought the download only were prompted to enter their own purchase price. They decide how much they’d pay for the album. You could enter $0.00, $0.10, $1,000.00. Genius.
Radiohead didn’t rely on iTunes or any major record label to distribute their music to the masses, and it could be the most effective release of all time. They pushed the album to millions of consumers (albeit without album art for iTunes) instantly. I’m interested to know how many downloads there will be and how much money they earn before it is released in stores in 2008.
Most Radiohead fans were dying for that E-mail this morning. I just setup a filter in my Gmail to forward anything from Waste.uk.com with “activation code” to my cell phone and was texted immediately. At 2:35am EST this morning, I knew that millions of other Radiohead fanatics like myself were all experiencing the album for the first time, together. Thank you again, Radiohead.
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