The Radiohead Revolution

Radiohead did something rather noteworthy today. They announced a distribution and pricing model for their new album that cuts out the record industry completely. The band will sell downloads and hard copies direct from their web site. By itself that is nothing new, but given that Radiohead is one of the preeminent bands working today, it is revolutionary.

As I understand it they plan to:

1) Sell the downloads at whatever price the buyer wants to pay plus a .45p service charge.

2) Sell a £40 "Discbox" which includes the CD, a heavyweight vinyl record, and an enhanced CD with additional tracks.

Lefsetz the guru in these matters writes about it here

The revolution just got a soundtrack.