Radiohead cutting out the record label

[JON9000]

With the biggest acts ostensibly able to cover their own recording and publicity costs, are the most sure-shot partners of the record labels going indy?

Is this the real threat to the record industry? Let there be no doubt, there will always be music, regardless of "record companies", in spite of what they want you to think!

Goodbye record labels, looks like the money is in publishing, these days, so open up your pocketbooks!

[El Chuxter]

Hopefully more bands follow suit. They get their real money from performing, anyway, so it doesn't hurt them to distribute the album online at "whatever price you think is fair."

Maybe if the backs of the record companies are broken, Ticketmaster might be next. Pearl Jam tried a few years back, but it turned out too many venues had exclusive contracts with the big guys at Ticketmaster, and they wound up just shooting themselves in the foot. Ticketmaster is a bigger monopoly than Microsoft.

[TeeEye7]

Ticketmaster is a bigger monopoly than Microsoft.

....and they all have bad haircuts, just like Gates

[figrin bran]

I've decided to pay Radiohead around 4 british pounds for the download of their new album.

Apparently Trent Reznor, having cut ties with his label, has decided to follow suit and will distribute his next NIN album on his own.

To some extent, Radiohead does stick it to Ticketmaster as their online fan club is always able to procure a fair share of their concert tickets. A few years back, I was lucky enough to get them for the orchestra pit at the Hollywood Bowl for not much more than what the average Ticketmaster price would've been for a nosebleed seat.

[plasticfetish]

Just downloaded it. Paid 5 pounds, which is around what it would have cost me on iTunes. Sounds good so far... more later.

[Jedi_Master_Guyute]

Yeah, i'm a uber huge radiohead fan........so I put down 40 pounds the special edition discbox things. total came to 84 bucks US. I'm VERY happy with the album thus far. I was always a fan of "Nude" since it's "OK Computer" days and I was irked they changed it, but it's far more creepy now. And Thom's voice at the end? GORGEOUS.

But this is an interesting move.

[2-1B]

They should offer to pay people to listen to their crappy albums...and let us name THAT price.

[figrin bran]

For anyone who hasn't downloaded yet, if you normally use Firefox, you might want to use IE instead as I had some troubles today.

So far, I'm liking All I Need the best. Most of the other songs, I've had live recordings of since last year and have figured out guitar tabs for some of them so they're not as "new" for me but still good to hear, like JMG was saying about Nude.

Some of the songs have that sparse feel that's on Thom's Eraser album which makes me wish he would've saved some of the songs, like Analyse, for more flushed out Radiohead arrangements.

[jjreason]

Aha - just what I was looking for, an answer to why I might be having problems. Thanks very much! Off to try again - this time with IE.

EDITED: it took awhile, but I now have it burned to CD and am very pleased. Thanks again!!!

[jjreason]

Double post - very sorry.

I'm liking the record more and more. Track 5, imo, is the best Radiohead song I've heard since "The Bends" came out. The whole record just seems like a nice step back toward their original, more organic sound.

Personally, I never really got into "Hail to the Thief" or "Kid A".... even "OK Computer" never got the listens from me everyone else seemed to think it deserved (I will try all of these records again soon, to check and reevaluate my position on them - it's been awhile since I've heard them all the way through).

Back to the gist though - this is a good, good record.