The changing face of the music business

Two announcements today have probably made people sit up and take notice of the changing times that the music business is going through. First there was the announcement that The Charlatans' next album (due out next year) will be available to download for free from the XFM website. Then the biggest news of the day is that the new Radiohead album, called 'In Rainbows' (not sure about that one yet lads), will be released next week (10th October) and only available via the WASTE website. Not only will it be download only for the moment, but there will also be a physical version available later in the year (with a second CD of songs, the album in heavyweight vinyl and some stunning artwork from Mr Donwood) but then you can also decide how much you want to pay for the download!!!!
Now thats a radical move - nice one Radiohead. I can certainly see where they are coming from. A comment from Alan McGee (who is apparently manager of the Charlie Twins these days) "The band will get paid by more people coming to gigs, buying merchandise, publishing and sync fees. I believe it's the future business model".
Is the whole industry starting to change? I am sure a lot of music biz types will have their eyes/ears open waiting to see what happens.


How nice is the packaging for the special edition of 'In Rainbows'