Now, I know some of you aren't fond of them, but you have to admit that they're coming up with some exciting ways to release material to their fans.

This piece below from Colin Greenwood is very interesting, and has me wondering what they'll come up with as far as releasing their material to the public. Letting fans download their music for any price seemed like the end of the road at the time, but now it feels like that could have been just the beginning.

This was of particular interest to me:

"Traditional marketplaces and media are feeling stale – supermarkets account for around 70 per cent of CDs sold in the UK, the charts are dominated by TV talent-show acts – and we are trying to find ways to put out our music that feel as good as the music itself. The ability to have a say in its release, through the new technologies, is the most empowering thing of all."

http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2010/0 ... ech-music/

Agreed, Dale.
I am amongst those non-worshipers, but I think that, of all the established bands, they are the ones leading the way in getting their music out in new and creative ways. Kudos to them for their efforts. Whether or not I love their music, I respect the hell out of them for their efforts in this area. Looking forward to reading the link.

I'm always curious about the album giveaways with newspapers in the UK. Two semi-dead mediums trying to save each other. Noisetrade has taken that pay what you want model and ran with it amazingly. Radiohead is in the rare position that they can pretty much do anything to get their music out there and people will sit up and listen.

I'm just going to assume beaming the songs directly into the brain is the next step. You will have no choice. One minute you're wandering around town and the next, Radiohead's newest is blaring into your skull. Pretty sure all they need is a valid email address to make this work.

Here in the states, I think they should either include it with the coupons and circulars included with Sunday Morning Newspapers or mail it out to everyone like they used to with sample sizes of clothing detergent.
It would also be pretty cool if you had to clip out a coupon and take it to some sort of brick and mortar store to get a free copy on the release date.
Other than that, I think they should just charge you a few bucks for a disc and allow you to design a personalized cover.

implantable neuro audio chips

I'm super curious too. I'm thinking some kind of partnership where the music is basically free in return for completing something that Radiohead thinks is valuable to their fans in some way. Maybe that in combination with a direct sale.

Or maybe, the album is free if you buy a ticket to any show that they perform in.

Should be interesting to see.

Sure, I'm looking forward to their new album, but I'm not real interested in speculating about how they're going to go about putting it out there.

The best thing about how they put out In Rainbows was how it managed to undermine the current internet practice of downloading and dissecting leaks months before an album's actual release date, which tends to seriously diminish and diffuse general enthusiasm and discussion about new music releases. It's not that they prevented people from "stealing" it/getting it for free, but rather they were able to create release-day buzz in an era when that's a totally dead concept. That was fun. Here's hoping they can at least duplicate that.

Well said. That's why I've avoided leaks lately. I've been going out of my way to support artists I love, but it's pretty hard to put down cash on something you've been listening to for months.

to my doorstep