"After a week filled with hoaxes and cryptographs Radiohead announced that they are going to be releasing their new album, In Rainbows, October 10th and it will cost however much you are willing to pay for it (seriously). The band is releasing the album with no record promotion and under no label literally a week after mixing wrapped on it. But the really insane brilliant part is that it is up to the listeners how much they pay for the album. Anyone that preorders the album via digital download gets to type in the price that they are paying. The only explanation is a message on the site that says “it’s up to you” In Rainbows will also be available in DiscBox format for about $80. The DiscBox is actually just a mammoth package containing 2 Vinyls and 2 CDs. There is an extra disc included that has bonus material, photos, and artwork. The disc boxes do not ship until December." -wbru.com

I wonder if you can get away with -1,000,000.00$...

I was going to post this. VERY cool story. I'm going to pay 5 now, and 10 if I like it.

Old news.

Kinda cool, but kinda lame, as in when it hits store shelves, where the majority of people will probably buy it, who will hold it label-wise and how will they handle the pricing?

I'll probably download it first, listen to it, and if I like it buy a copy.

Brilliant plan. Should be a perfect example of consumer surplus. Basically, you are attracting EVERYONE who wouldn't want to pay 10.99+ for a CD. That's a lot of gained sales.

-10^67

Someone should try negative numbers, and someone should try to hit the integer overflow limit.

yeah i'd attempt a negative number

A neat idea, but it doesn't really make for a realistic business model.

What a badass way to get certified diamond in the US...

Sure, but only if you live in China.

You know you're an idiot, right?

There's restaurants that do this. Works pretty well for them.

I still think we'd all be better off if we ignored him.

And I think a lot of you are going to be surprised by how this works. If anyone should pioneer this method of distribution, it's Radiohead.

while im not a huge fan of radiohead... i might actually spend 2 or 3 bucks and get the album. this is actually a genius marketing method. even if most people only pay 1 or 2 dollars for the album, you still have potentially hundreds of thousands of people paying even that small amount who wouldn't have spent any money on it otherwise.

yay, (legally) free music!

so...if I wanted to pay ZERO...

no thanks

This has actually been done before, just not by anyone as well known as Radiohead.

I'm still not going to buy it though, the time spent downloading it is time I'll never get back.

Yep. Magnatune is a whole independent label that does the same thing, though they have a scale from $5-$20 that you can choose for any CD on their label. They make them available as pressed CDs for a couple dollars extra, or lossless downloads, or lossy if you choose.

Even if you only pay a dollar, it's a dollar that Radiohead is getting. They didn't have to pay a record company to record, produce, and print the record, or an advertising company to promote the album. So in the end they really can't make any less than they usually would.

Exactly.

I'm signed up for a free download. I've never really checked out Radiohead before, so if I like this, I may end up purchasing more. I'm very happy to see bands doing this.

While a nice idea and that, it's still not going to change the fact that Radiohead are crap apart from the odd song.

It's out for download now. As of 1:30 (Eastern/ GMT -5)

Not sure what I think of it yet.

I've never been a fan of Radiohead, but if I can chuck them just a couple of quid for this (because I think I should pay a little - even if I go to see a crap film I still have to pay and no-one questions this) I'll probably give it a go.

Reminds me of a more alternative U2, and I have yet to decide whether or not that's a good thing.

/me is listening to some death metal now.
/me is much happier.

So what do you guys think? After a couple of listens, I think it sounds a little uninspired compared to previous albums. It feels musically consistent but dull, no single track really caught my attention (except maybe 15 Steps). I also seem to hear a lot more Eraser (Thom's solo album) -style samples than I would care for.

Of course, my impression might change the better I get to know the album.

I've heard it twice so far and really enjoyed it.
Maybe not as groundbreaking as some of their previous albums, but not every album has to reinvent the wheel.
There are some great songs in there, and a beautiful sound and production. I especially love "Faust Arp" with it's awesome string arrangement

And who might you be?

A very smart person?

You know...if one were planning to download it and not pay anything...if they were to pirate the album instead, they would be saving Radiohead money.

Whoaaa

One of my co-workers was playing it at work, it was distractingly bad. It would probably be a lot better without the vocals.

Meh, I have NEVER been a fan of Radiohead, and despite giving this album a chance, it sounds very much like someone said up above, "uninspired". To me, they are trying to be U2 wannabees, and frankly, their music is just bland.

Oh well, at least I only paid 4 bucks for it, and not 13!