2.7

The RIAA and I have long been in a bitter rivalry. I relentlessly mock and deride them, they sue a couple hundred people I don't know. It's this thing we have. But over the past few weeks, I've been in the process of infiltrating their insidious floating fortress, high above the detestable riffraff they think of as "clientèle." My source is reliable, but I won't divulge whether this is through my anonymous contact in their recording artist gold mines (where individual after individual churns out innocuous pop to the beat of a subsidized drummer) or whether it's higher up in the dark, dank chambers where they torture music aggregate and torrent operators with perverse combinations of Britney Spears and Nine Inch Nails. Suffice it to say, I've obtained this memo which I will now, unabashedly, leak to the public. Be warned: the following excerpt may contain materials of a corporate nature. Reader discretion is advised:

"Damn, son, you hear what them Radiohead boys did? I was all, 'Oh HELL no, they did not just go there. They did not just get all up in that optional grill.' But sure as my shoes are diamond studded, they're releasing their next album next week, on the intraweb! I know! And, get this: you get to choose what you pay for it! I was like, 'Crap' and stuff! I mean, here we are, working night and day in court with people stealing our mo-... our artists' music, and there they go offering their music up for free! Because sure as hell no one's going to choose to pay no money they don't have to! That's why we sue them. People don't pay for music, we punch them in the trachea. It's practically biological, baby. After all, we got bills to pay and yachts to renovate, amiright?

It's not that I'm worried or anything. I mean, it's Radiohead! The lead dude sounds like he's brushing his teeth and singing at the same time. And it's all 'life sucks, blah blah blah.' It's not like their concerts sell out or or or...

I mean, it's almost as if... oh God... Oh..... God... it's as if they don't even need us anymore! I... I feel so alone..."

And the rest is pretty much the same. I imagine that, next to lawyers, the RIAA will be investing heavily in grief counselors in the coming weeks.

Seriously, though, if you didn't catch it, Radiohead's In Rainbow will be released for online download on October 10th. When prompted for the price, you type however much you want to pay and that's your price ( plus .45 pounds for a credit card charge if you pay more than $0.00). When it comes out, you download it and it's a done deal.

Which is to say, yes, I know this hardly a death knell for the recording industry. Radiohead has enough stature and money to be able to afford this sort of thing, whereas smaller, less established artists can make use of a record company's promotion machine.

It certainly makes sense. The amount an artist typically makes off CD sales is sketchy, with the estimates I've seen ranging from $.30 to $2.50 per unit (hearsay, admittedly). Concerts is where the money's at, baby. So, when you already play full houses and have the fame, why not release your music for free?

Except that's not what Radiohead's doing. The optional "tipping" aspect prompts the individual with the option to pay what they want for services rendered. Sure, most people will probably pay nothing, but even if one in ten people pays $10 (standard itunes prices), they'll be making about the industry average. It's a formula webcomic artists have been using (in addition to merchandise sales) for a couple of years to some significant success. That's my kind of art: free, with donations if you think it's worth it.

There are plenty of potential problems, but we'll just have to see how it goes. I, personally, paid $5. Too much, too little, abnormal, who knows? But I like to think I'm a reasonable man. Get off my case. And hope this is a sign of things to come. It's enough to make one Optimistic.