The Hype Machine

Damn, it seems like you can't get away from the computer for more than 2 minutes without missing something important, significant, life-altering, tremen... well, you get my point. This week, this special moment is related to my favorite band this side of Arcade Fire, Radiohead. Man do they ever piss me off sometimes (I'm still bitter about striking out on concert tickets when they came to Montreal at the Place des Arts last year). So I'm here, casually browsing, when I read the bombshell: the new Radiohead album is ready and will be released next week. As the kids say, !!!OMFG!!! While I respect the fact that not everybody cares about Radiohead, the way which they will distribute their new record could have a tremendous effect on the music business as a whole. As you might have heard already, the band has decided to shortcut the record label by selling their music straight to fans on their website and has decided to let them decide how much to pay for it. So, how much is a Radiohead record download worth? The music biz is dying to find out. 20 dollars? 10? Zero? That right, zero can be a valid answer too. The band won't stop you from downloading it for free when it is released on October 10th. Oh, sure, they'll still request a valid email address from you, with which they could spam the hell out of you for the next few years, but hey, free is free, right? And what about the diehard fans, those who must have it all? This is where the band infuriates me: for 82 canadian dollars, you can get the super deluxe, exclusive, "you'll die if you don't get this" box set, complete with vinyl and CD copies of the new record. In short, spend a large sum to get the full experience or get the digital download and wait for a "traditional" release (regular CD in a record store) sometimes next year. This way, Radiohead can't lose. Brilliant. But it raises many questions which the music industry has been asking for years and which Radiohead is pushing to the forefront more than ever, such as how much is music worth? Or what is the state and future of the art form known as the album? But you, how much would you pay for a Radiohead record?


Now, where's my credit card again...