Wow, I'm even beating Pitchfork and Stereogum on this one...just got a message from the Radiohead fansite At Ease to check Radiohead's website. And lo and behold, Radiohead has defied expectations (it was expected in 2008) and is releasing their new album, titled "In Rainbows", in 10 days, sans a record company, exclusively via their website. That is only where the weirdness begins--
1) There is no set price to download the album--as a pre-order, you just type in what you want to pay. It can be anywhere from .01 to $1,000. Your call.
2) Other than digital download, it will also be available in a "Discbox" format, which includes a 2xLP vinyl version, a 2xCD version, artwork, booklet & a digital download for 40 pounds ($80!). The physical materials don't ship until December 3rd, but you still get a download code for the digital version in ten days.
Crazy stuff...takes some balls for a band as big as Radiohead to give two fingers to the big labels and go it on their own. Can't wait to hear it.
6 comments:
Are we sure this isn't an extension of that hoax? I guess if it's on their own site, it must be legit.
If true, this is a pretty big F-U to the record industry. I admire Radiohead's stance, but it helps that they've got the benefit of nearly two decades of label support and fan goodwill to draw from.
But I can't wait to hear it!
Wow. . . That shits is real!
They had been threatening to do something like this all along. I'm impressed they had the nuts to actually go through with it.
Yup, it's definitely real. Should be a great album from the live bootlegs I've heard--some of their strongest songs since Ok Computer/Kid A. "Videotape" is probably the most beautiful song they've ever written.
so awesome - it's so great to see a band in there position putting it to good use and doing something right by themselves and their fans.
Right by their fans? Those of us that want the hard copy have to pay eighty fucking dollars.
They should change their name to Cunt-iohead.
I do think that it's ridiculous, by I really blame the Bush administration more than the White House. If they hadn't crippled our standing in the world economy, then the U.S. dollar could probably hold it's own against the pound and the Euro. So instead of paying $40 for the set, our undervalued currency has us paying 80+.
Regardless, I still ordered my copy...
Keep in mind though that they are planning to release a CD-only version in early 2008 in stores once they get a record contract signed. So if you don't mind having a CD-R for a few months, just pay $0.00 for the download and then buy the physical CD for $10 next spring.
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