Radiohead

For music sites, album release partnerships are a newish PR strategy

The likes of iTunes, iLike, and Imeem might be making troubled record labels' lives a bit more complicated. But on a brighter note for the music industry, they've also created digital music's ultimate publicity stunt.

A press release came out Wednesday from our sister company Last.fm, touting the fact that Radiohead's landmark album In Rainbows is now available for free streaming on the site.

In Rainbows has been out since October, and it was famously distributed across the Web with a name-your-own-price policy. So it's not exactly the freshest story, though In Rainbows is no … Read more

Off-topic: Song of the Day is Radiohead's "True Love Waits"

I was just listening to Radiohead's beautiful "True Love Waits," and thought I'd share it. I love Thom Yorke's lyrics:

And true love waits In haunted attics And true love lives On lollipops and crisps

Genius. You can listen to it here. If you have yet to embrace Radiohead, this is your chance at contrition and penitence.

Buzz Out Loud 736: Plurk that Plurkin' Facebook

Facebook comes under attack by Canadian privacy groups, but everyone's already moved on to Plurk. Er...maybe. Also: self-destructing DVDs are back! Yay! They were such a good idea the first time around, we're betting they'll be a monster hit, what with their wasteful, throwaway nature and ridiculous pricing and all. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 736

Mars lander’s robotic arm makes contact http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956964-7.html

U.S. town tells Street View to push off http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/02/north_oaks_street_view/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956753-7.html

Motley … Read more

Are we in the '60s again?

It was just two months ago that Nine Inch Nails released its album Ghosts I-IV in multiple formats, from free nine-song download all the way up to a deluxe LP/CD/Blu-ray set. Today, the band started taking orders for free downloads of its next album, The Slip; like Radiohead did with In Rainbows, the band will subsequently release the album on CD and LP format.

Everybody's interested in the business model--has free-then-fee already gotten old?--but when's the last time you saw a band release two albums in two months? Sure, Trent's interested in making a … Read more

Nine Inch Nails releases another online album--this one's free

Declaring digital sales a success, rock veterans Nine Inch Nails have released another online album, The Slip. Unlike their last album, this one is totally free, and, according to front man Trent Reznor, is a thank-you to the band's fans.

The Slip is available from Nine Inch Nails' Web site in a number of DRM-free formats: MP3, FLAC, M4A, and WAVE. The band is also streaming the album on music social network iLike.

In March, no longer affiliated with a record label, Nine Inch Nails released its album Ghosts I-IV on its Web site. An assortment of payment options … Read more

Radiohead's retreat from free will be cheaper for me

It's official. It might have worked. It might not have worked. But whether or not Radiohead's experiment with free distribution of In Rainbows worked for the band or not, it's not going to happen again anytime soon. Thom Yorke, Radiohead's frontman, explains:

"Yes. It was a one-off in terms of a story. It was one of those things where we were in the position of everyone asking us what we were going to do. I don't think it would have the same significance now anyway, if we chose to give something away again. It … Read more

Radiohead won't repeat 'In Rainbows' giveaway

Radiohead made it official: the band won't be giving away music like it did with the album In Rainbows.

"I think it was a one-off response to a particular situation," the band's lead singer Thom Yorke told The Hollywood Reporter. "It was one of those things where we were in the position of everyone asking us what we were going to do. I don't think it would have the same significance now anyway, if we chose to give something away again. It was a moment in time."

Many music fans had hoped that … Read more

Prince covers Radiohead @ Coachella

When one rock legend covers another, there's a fine line between one-upmanship and tribute, disrespect and validation. Prince is as cool as they come--surely you've all seen him upstaging Eric Clapton at the 2004 Rock Hall of Fame induction ceremony by shredding the heck out of Clapton's original solo on the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

This weekend, he took a 15-year-old single by one of the biggest bands in the world--a song that the band distanced itself from and seldom plays anymore--and made it sound new again. Prince. Radiohead. "Creep." See … Read more

Lars Ulrich suggests Metallica could follow Radiohead

Lars Ulrich, the combustible drummer of heavy-metal band Metallica and long-time critic of file sharing, has apparently changed some of his views towards the Internet and digital music.

In an interview with Rolling Stone last week, Ulrich said he and his bandmates have only one more album to make under contract to Warner Music Group.

What are their plans for the future?

"We want to be as free (as) players as possible," Ulrich told Rolling Stone during the band's Northern California appearance for Record Store Day. "We've been observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor and in … Read more