Rainbows are visions, but only illusions, and rainbows have nothing to hide.

If you follow music news at all, you've probably heard about the newest album from the art rockers Radiohead. Their seventh studio album is collecting quite a bit of buzz, although very little of it seems to be about the actual music. What people are really talking about, is the band's innovative approach to releasing this record. An excerpt from Time magazine:

"In Rainbows will be released as a digital download available only via the band's web site, Radiohead.com. There's no label or distribution partner to cut into the band's profits — but then there may not be any profits. Drop In Rainbows' 15 songs into the online checkout basket and a question mark pops up where the price would normally be. Click it, and the prompt "It's Up To You" appears. Click again and it refreshes with the words "It's Really Up To You" — and really, it is. It's the first major album whose price is determined by what individual consumers want to pay for it. And it's perfectly acceptable to pay nothing at all."
-Time magazine

You can see why the music world would have a lot to say about this news - we're looking at a move that could potentially help change the entire industry. A quick google search will find hundreds of people discussing and debating how much money the band has already made on their Oct 10th release (which I bought on the 11th for a little over $5). Some are even subtly implying that this may be their most profitable album yet - and we're just 4 days into the release!
As fascinating and incredible as their new business model (for lack of a better term) is, I can't help feeling a bit worried. Not about whether the album will be profitable for them or not - I'm certain it will be - but rather on whether or not all this talk of their method is overshadowing their music itself. Honestly, I think that what I've heard of In Rainbows (the download only offers the first disc - the additional 8 songs currently need to be purchased as an expensive boxed set) is probably the best Radiohead has ever composed. The entire album is solid - not a single track fails to impress. I'm just afraid that years from now this album won't be talked about for how awesome it is - but rather for it's gimmicky sales approach. More people need to talk about the music itself than the pay as you'd like scheme. So anyway, I highly recommend heading over to the In Rainbows website and purchasing the album for whatever you think is fair. Not because I believe in the method (I do, btw), but because this is a fantastic album that really shouldn't be missed out on. If you're only going to own one Radiohead album - it really should be In Rainbows.

Oh - and listen for the Little Mermaid reference at the end of 'Nude,' it makes me smile every time I hear it.