Radiohead said in a magazine interview that it wouldn’t release any more full-length albums, instead focusing on downloadable singles like its recently released “Harry Patch (In Memory Of)” and shorter EPs.
Nearly two years after it released “In Rainbows” as a pay-as-you-wish downloadable album, Radiohead has posted a new single on its Web site.
The song, “Harry Patch (In memory of),” is in honor of the last known British World War I veteran, who died in late July and was buried today.
There was a time when most aspiring musicians had the same dream: to sign a deal with a major record label. Now, with the structure of the music business shifting radically, some industry iconoclasts are sidestepping the music giants and inventing new ways for artists to make and market their music–without ever signing a traditional recording contract.
The music industry should embrace illegal file-sharing Web sites, according to a study of Radiohead’s last album release that found huge numbers of people downloaded it illegally even though the band allowed fans to pay little or nothing for it.
The Qtrax debacle is getting most of the attention this week, with Warner Music’s ridiculous CEO compensation close behind, but there is promising news in the music industry worth noting. Late last year, there was much fuss around Radiohead’s decision to eschew usual distribution schemes and release “In Rainbows” in a variety of formats, among them free downloads. It was no surprise that the marketing plan worked well and, more recently, helped the on-CD version of the new album top many sales charts. Radiohead is an extremely popular band; of course its experiment did well. But if there’s going to be a music industry anymore, it’s going to be because nonplatinum performers can make a living as musicians.
Despite what some claim, Radiohead made it abundantly clear from the very beginning that the “name your own price” download offering was part of a promotional campaign to get more people to buy the physical CD. And buy it, they are.
You’ve got to hand it to those guys at Radiohead. Not only are they great musicians. They are great promoters who are at the forefront of figuring out how to use the culture of free music to sell CDs.
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