Radiohead Says: Pay What You Want - TIME

When Radiohead was out of their record contract at the height of their popularity many wondered what they might do next. Thom Yorke, free from label oversight, released a terrific solo project. And live, Radiohead tried out material that was purportedly being considered for inclusion in their next album. Now we learn that rather than milk the public by going to a major record label that prolly would provide lots of marketing muscle but little else, the band have decided to release the album themselves digital-only (and from their site only) and ask the public what they want to pay for it at the time of checkout. Seriously:

In Rainbows will be released as a digital download available only via the band's web site, Radiohead.com. There's no label or distribution partner to cut into the band's profits — but then there may not be any profits. Drop In Rainbows' 15 songs into the on-line checkout basket and a question mark pops up where the price would normally be. Click it, and the prompt “It's Up To You” appears. Click again and it refreshes with the words “It's Really Up To You” — and really, it is. It's the first major album whose price is determined by what individual consumers want to pay for it. And it's perfectly acceptable to pay nothing at all.

This is a pretty big deal. I'm guessing the record labels aren't real excited about this.

Radiohead Says: Pay What You Want

Written while groovin' to Everything In It's Wrong Place from the album “Me & This Army: Radiohead Remixed and Mashed Up” by Radiohead