In the olden days, paying for music was never questioned. People would go to a record store and actually stand in line and wait to give the cashier $16 dollars for a CD (remember those?). Then Napster came. Suddenly music was free. Customers cheered, record companies shook their fists. After years of legal tangles, iTunes emerged as a possible solution to the online music question, especially for those yuppies who didn’t want the hassle of navigating Eastern European BitTorrent websites. Still, record companies continued to pursue illegal downloaders, slapping everyone from college students to grandmothers with lawsuits seeking astronomical re-compensation. But last week’s release of Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” might mark another turning point for digital music.
Radiohead announced that they had finished recording their seventh album several weeks ago. The band had no record deal, and industry analysts expected the band to hold a bidding war with the major labels for the distribution rights. Instead, on October 1, Radiohead shocked the music world by announcing on it’s website that the album would be made available for download on October 10 and that customers could pay what they wanted for it.
The move was a brilliant one. By allowing fans to “tip” the band for the album, they’ve given consumers a chance to examine just how they value music. This is especially important for college students. We want more music than our pockets can pay for. The fact is, most of us couldn’t pay for all the music on our hard drives even if we had wanted to. Radiohead has given us a great chance to assume responsibility over our consumption. This should be the future. Do yourself and future generations a favor and go download the album, if only to show support for a good idea. And if you feel so inclined, make sure to through a few coins in the jar while you’re at it.
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