Test Your Connection
Speed Now

Radiohead OK’s Computer to Release Album

A decade after releasing hit OK Computer, the name might make more sense today, as UK band Radiohead has decided to release their newest album ‘In Rainbows’ digitally, where the customer will choose the price for downloading the album.

Starting this week, you can buy a deluxe record set (CD or vinyl) along with eight bonus songs and a hardcover book with lyrics, photos and a slipcase. That package costs 40 British pounds or about $82. The regular release for "In Rainbow" is scheduled to hit the store shelves in 2008.

Or, you can simply pay for the download - the price is up to you.

The website says: “It’s up to you.” Radiohead let the music business know that it would rather put its trust in its fans, rather than a record label by allowing their new album to be downloaded at a price to be determined by individual consumers on the Internet.

The opening of the pre-sale crashed the website and while it’s now back up and running, some say it will cost the band between $5,000 to $10,000 to accomodate the site's increased bandwidth. The traffic can overload the server unless they work with a content distribution network or a fairly hefty server company.

Just as the music industry seems to be getting more and more puritanical when it comes to downloading free music, Radiohead decided to break away from that machine. While the idea has been floating around for sometime now, this is the first time a band has released an album in such an unorthodox manner. Many say Radiohead is in the perfect position to do it.

It’s the seventh album, and first in four years, and with “In Rainbows,” Radiohead is releasing it on its own terms. The band was expected to sign with an independent label to release a CD version of the album next year but in the meantime, it’s handing over the album to fans, via computer.

There’s a possibility of loss in sales but the band regains control of its music and can monitor who is listening to it. This, no doubt, sets up a slew of marketing opportunities. One can only imagine the free PR that’s coming their way.

Radiohead has sold close to 9 million albums in the U.S., and three of its CDs have debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard album charts.

Digg!