Radiohead offers next album for download -- by donation!

The creative forces of Thom Yorke and Radiohead have brought great contributions to music, that will withstand the test of time (for awhile, anyways).

And now, the mega-band Radiohead wants to bring their creativity to bear on the way their music is distributed. 

Somewhat out of the blue, Radiohead announced yesterday that their next album, In Rainbows, will be available on October 10th. And the price of the new album is going to be up to the listener. That's right -- it seems that the disc will be available for download, and the consumer gets to pick the price. Bit of a switch from how album sales are regularly handled.

Radiohead has the freedom to do this because they are not tied down to any recording labels right now. The last contract they had with EMI expired in 2003.

So...how will the make any money, you may wonder? Well, besides the friendly folk who actually offer money for the album (and I'm sure out of all the Radiohead fans out there, many will), Radiohead will also be offering an extended, 2-disc 'boxed set' version of the album. This roughly $80 USD package includes a more 'traditional' artwork / lyric book and album case, 2 CD's (the downloadable album plus another CD with more songs and goodies on it), and 2 12-inch LP (vinyl) records of In Rainbows. 

It'll be interesting to see how this works out for Radiohead. Not to mention the music industry as a whole.

Recently, Time magazine quoted an unnamed record executive, relating the following on the Radiohead maneuver: "This feels like yet another death knell. If the best band in the world doesn't want a part of us, I'm not sure what's left for this business."