25% off XPS M1330 & M1530 laptopsRadiohead's new album could be watershed moment for music
Radiohead is known for such albums as 'The Bends' and 'OK Computer.' The band's contract with EMI expired in 2003.
(Credit: EMI)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 be shipped by December 3.
The band will release the digital album on October 10 but was taking preorders from its Web site on Monday.
The move is significant because it will be the first time a top act attempts to promote and distribute an album without the backing of a record label. Radiohead's contract with EMI expired in 2003.
Should the album generate respectable sales, it might be the encouragement other bands need to strike out on their own and cut out middlemen record companies. Scores of digital music fans have long claimed that the Internet makes music labels obsolete. They argue that musicians can distribute and promote their albums via the Web.
The move by Radiohead comes after Prince gave away copies of his new album, Planet Earth, through the British newspaper The Mail over the summer.
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg.
It's time for a song parody.
(That is still constitutionally protected -- right?)
"DRM must die"
(Sung to the tune of "American Pie")
A short, short time ago...
Things were easy back then
How owning music was a good buy.
And I knew that CD was mine.
That buying something
meant owning something, by and by.
But '98 gave me a shiver
With the DMCA set to deliver
Bad news with every step
Process served on one's doorstep.
I can't remember who got fried.
Was it a pirate or RIAA that lied?
I'm quite confused. A knot is tied.
The way, all music was tried.
So die, die, DRM please just die.
The Digital Millennium Act is
an excuse to just spy.
The good ol' boys from the RIAA are sly
thinking: "They will never refuse to buy."
"It's OK to sue -- we should try."
Whoa, just who do you think you can shove?
Have faith in fans -- for music they love.
Why did Congress give you a Go?
Do you believe there's money to be earned
in DRM-less music? Haven't you learned
that a carrot will beat a stick -- don't you know?
Well, I know that your margins are thin
'cause the stocks are looking quite slim.
But don't ignore the clues.
Times are changing. Stop singing the blues!
Lonely fans downloading music don't suck.
They are not selling this stuff out of their truck.
But these unjustified lawsuits are ...
The way, all music was tried.
Keep on a singin',
die, die, DRM please just die.
The Digital Millennium Act is
an excuse to just spy.
The good ol' boys from the RIAA are sly
thinking: "They will never refuse to buy."
"It's OK to sue -- we should try."
Close to ten years, we've been on our own.
Have we been on the cover of Rolling Stone?
Our voice isn't so silly.
Who's the jester and who's the prima-queen?
The new Millennium was easily seen
the changes coming for both you and me.
So, on the fans, stop looking down.
They still have money to throw around.
"The courtroom was adjourned;"
"No verdict was returned."
This ain't no page from the book of Marx,
A new business model, not a code-breaking lark.
Let the downloaders come from the dark.
The way, all music was tried.
We were crying,
die, die, DRM please just die.
The Digital Millennium Act is
an excuse to just spy.
The good ol' boys from the RIAA are sly
thinking: "They will never refuse to buy."
"It's OK to sue -- we should try."
"Helter Skelter" or whatever the hell-ter
is downloadable from Michael's shelter.
But, is "8 Mile"? How long will that last?
Eminem. Please don't kick our ass.
No one's asking for a free pass.
Just a break from these attorneys' sass.
I dream of listening to that tune.
It may not be free to download to a Zune.
But, give DRM-less a good chance.
Let's together have this dance!
With a new business model to wield;
buying incentives without a shield.
Do you recall the art of the deal?
Oh, the way, all music was tried.
Now we're all singing,
die, die, DRM please just die.
The Digital Millennium Act is
an excuse to just spy.
The good ol' boys from the RIAA are sly
thinking: "They will never refuse to buy."
"It's OK to sue -- we should try."
Now it's global!
Die, die, DRM please just die.
The Digital Millennium Act is
an excuse to just spy.
The good ol' boys from the RIAA will soon by and by,
understand what fans really want to buy.
For that matter, I'd gladly the same amount to ALL my favorite bands