Over a span of several months, one of the world's biggest bands has decided to help democratize the music industry. How? By acting like the world's smallest bands. In addition to selling their album "In Rainbows" online and without a label, now they are promoting it (along with the formal release of a CD and the inevitable tour that will follow) with a YouTube concert video. First shown on New Year's Eve on the Radiohead site, the longer-than-standard video is now available in its entirety on YouTube.
All of this has done the intended job. The band has stayed in the news. And for the right reasons. I donated on their site when downloading the album. I'm watching the video as I write. And I'll probably go see them this summer. Moreover, the awareness led me to a related album, the well-received all-reggae covers compilation of OK Computer from late 2006: Radiodread. This Radiohead-approved project is worth checking out too, with appearances from Horace Andy, Toots and the Maytals and Sugar Minott sweetening the pot. A DRM-free download can be had here.
If nothing else, admire this band for challenging the hegemony of an industry that has done precious little to change with the times, beyond suing its most avid denizens (for increasingly petty infractions). And the bands that realize that honey wins over vinegar will be the ones winning come summertime. They will be the ones that build the lasting relationships. They will be the ones that get us to shill out $50 or more. And as file sharing eventually proves to be too widespread and amorphous to tame, the bands that can pack arenas will be the ones who own what's left of the industry's waning profitability.
Daniel Turman
