£6.99 for a whole album at 320kbps.
Now that's what I'm talking about.

I'd also respect their stance, but what I don't get is this: there are plenty of tracks on iTunes that are "Album Only". Couldn't Radiohead negotiate w/ Apple that all of their tracks be "Album Only"? Is that the ONLY reason why they're holding back?

I just love the DRM Free.

I applaud Radiohead on their stance

I enjoy the convenience of iTunes, but selling your own music under your own terms with no DRM, straight from artist to fan (almost), is the way to go. That said, good luck with the album-only approach.

Radiohead are one of those bands where you really need to listen to the whole album to appreciate them. The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.

I hate to sound like a Rolling Stone journalist geeking off some top 10 list or another, but Radiohead ... one of the greatest bands ever, and one of the most headstrong - as this initiative shows.

God bless 'em.

Talk about hitting the mark with the bitrate. That's why I don't spend a dime through iTunes. 128kbs? No thanks.

In this age of the digital single, it'd be easy to give Radiohead grief for being stubborn, but the purist in me respects their full album stance, actually.

Matt, I certainly agree with your final conclusion, but I don't get why it would be easy to give them grief for this decision?

They're offering 320 kbps tracks instead of limiting them to 192/128 which iTunes Plus/iTunes would do... What's bad about that at all?

@rawhead: You know, that's a good point. I was sitting here applauding Radiohead as well - and reminiscing about the short life of the concept album (Red Headed Stranger, Thick as a Brick, anything by Frank Zappa except Hot Rats.) And then you said that.

Now I kind of think they're just grand-standing pricks.

Actually, I only like one song in the entire Album. I Suspect that others feel the same way. The band knows it and therefore want to bundle the crap songs with the only one people like. Or else they will only be able to make money from 1 song!

My advice to RadioHead is to stop trying to game the system and worry more about making better music!

The whole thing about having to listen to the whole album is bs made up by bands to get more money, having a concept in mind for a whole album doesnt mean anything when there are only a few good tracks on it. I think Radiohead is a fine group but they have made maybe 4-5 good songs in their career and i have no desire to purchase 4 whole albums in order to get those.

Ooops, I retract my previous comment. Somehow I missed the "you have to buy the whole album" part of this post.

(though I still have no problem with it)

@Oasx: That's true now, but it wasn't always the way. *sighs in nostalgia*

@Oasx: While that's true for most bands. Radiohead really do put together whole albums that are better when listened to together. They may not be to your taste, but that's your choice.

All of their albums were supposedly concept albums, and yet you can find individual tracks for them now. Most artist begin album projects w/ a single concept in mind, but then one or two songs break while others on the album bomb and they realize those hit tracks can sell really well by themselves. I commend them for releasing it as an album, but soon business will beat out artistry and all these songs will be sold separately by the release of their next album.

I'm a big radiohead fan, and while I'm disappointed that their tracks can't be bought on iTunes, I too applaud them. I did, however, buy all of their CD's, so I'm golden.

Thats cool, I love iTunes and I have no problem buying from other services as long as I can load them on my iPod.

Competition is a great thing, I've been buying a lot of albums from 7digital.com but what really pisses me off are these companies that completely shutout iPods owners because they're pissed off at Apple. They're basically saying my money is no good to them, so "f" em

320k DRM free MP3's is music to my ears. It's great to see a major artist send this type of message to the RIAA in regards to rights management. Hopefully in the future all downloadable music will be distributed this way. I'm sure people would be less inclined to steal if digital music was fair to the user. If anything, this is somewhat of a middle finger to Lars Ulrich which is always a good thing.

@Philyfun -- how would DRM-free music keep it off your iPod? Just drag the album over. Good times.

This is supposed to be the era of artists taking back control over their destiny and how their music is sold. How is a band saying, "We'd rather you experience the whole album instead of cherry-picking singles and we're willing to give it to you DRM-free at a very reasonable price at a very high bit-rate" a bad thing?

Step off Radiohead, haters.

I'd agree that Radiohead's albums are better taken as a whole than in pieces.

However, the idea that they're albums and can't be sold in pieces is undercut more than a bit by all of the Radiohead CD singles that I have sitting in a box somewhere, where I had to buy a couple album tracks I already owned just to get the B-sides.

@OMARG--I was talking about the online music services that are are not compatible with the iPod.

Bring on more services like 7digital.com and the hopefully coming soon DRM free Amazon.com music store.

;-)

I'm a big Radiohead fan, but this really pisses me off. Hey, Radiohead, how about you make the music the best way you know how, and let the rest of us mere mortals decide how we want to listen to it. Maybe I heard it at a friend's house and just liked the one track.

What's next? Do I have to listen all the way through every time? May I take the occasional bathroom break? Are you allowed to talk while it's playing? Should I only listen at night? What are the other rules as to how I should enjoy your music?

You know what else, Radiohead? I own all your albums. And yet some of your songs didn't make it into my iTunes library, because I just don't like them. Should I delete the rest? I wouldn't want to ruin Paranoid Android by skipping "Fitter Happier".

I couldn't care less if they sell through iTunes or not, and I'll certainly buy the whole cd, but refusing to sell it by the track is just pompous.

I'm a big Radiohead fan, but this really pisses me off. Hey, Radiohead, how about you make the music the best way you know how, and let the rest of us mere mortals decide how we want to listen to it. Maybe I heard it at a friend's house and just liked the one track.

What's next? Do I have to listen all the way through every time? May I take the occasional bathroom break? Are you allowed to talk while it's playing? Should I only listen at night? What are the other rules as to how I should enjoy your music?

You know what else, Radiohead? I own all your albums. And yet some of your songs didn't make it into my iTunes library, because I just don't like them. Should I delete the rest? I wouldn't want to ruin Paranoid Android by skipping "Fitter Happier".

I couldn't care less if they sell through iTunes or not, and I'll certainly buy the whole cd, but refusing to sell it by the track is just pompous.

and sorry for the dupe.

@Phillyfun--By the same token, what about the fact that iTunes does not work (easily) with non-Ipod owners? Should we "F" iTunes, too?

perfect

Fuck iTunes.
Self-respecting bands should be selling digital versions of their own music as they see fit, DRM-free in formats they choose, ideally on their OWN sites.
Radiohead is making an artistic-control as well as business decision.
Respect!

@XSteveMurphy: A fair point, but kind of a little straw manny. Sure they can't tell you how to listen, but by the same measure can you tell them how to sell? If somebody comes to buy your car and decides they only actually want the front driver's side wheel, you're not compelled to sell them just that part. You can tell them to buy the whole thing or get stuffed.
Okay, so it's a bit of a stretch because clearly you'd have trouble selling a three wheel car if you'd sold one wheel seperately and the same probably isn't true of an album. But by the same measure, Radiohead couldn't sell fitter, happier seperate from the rest of the album. But maybe that's the point!?!

For non-Radiohead fans: fitter, happier is a spoken word track (actually a Stephen Hawkins like synthesized voice track) between Karma Police and Electioneering on OK Computer

@wjousts: Fitter Happier is the "Fred" voice from the old Mac.

I think the bigger point here is that iTunes would cut their music down to a bitrate where you can't hear half of it, and when you take some sounds out, others become too loud.

They're purists, and they would not like that one bit.

@Collins1: Well you learn something new every day. Not being a Mac person, I did not know that.

@wjousts: I'm not a Mac person either; My friend insists on telling me everything about radiohead. I got back at him and his incessant whining by repeating random lines from the when I'm in his presence.

from the SONG when I'm....