Radiohead Backlash Makes No Sense
Fans, media, bloggers and whomever else making a point in ripping on Radiohead’s decision to release ‘In Rainbows’ online defies all logic and sense that this writer feels the need to clarify some things. In the age of albums being leaked to the public, what Radiohead pretty much did was leak their own album before it’s release. They said to themselves, let’s just put it out there for a small administrative fee, an amount that totals peanuts and let the fans decide if they want to go out and buy the album when it is officially released on CD.
There should not be a soul that feels ripped off by this unprecedented move. They did not force anyone to pay more than they wanted to and if someone does feel ripped off they should blame themselves and not the band. I typically look at it this way, if you have a significant other and you pass on a nude photo of yourself to them, there is a good chance that might get out to the public. Radiohead, on the other hand, just defined the terms and conditions which is something that bands and studios have been afraid to do.
Also, noone should feel as if they were duped. The commentary made by their manager of fans going out in the future to buy their CD is a no-brainer. First off, noone is forcing anyone to buy any CD and secondly, the point of a band is to make money and promote their product. They are not doing this for free. To find people almost shocked, is idiotic at best that a manager would come forward and make comments to that effect.
Now I also know that there are standards with audiofiles and that sometimes people complain if the kilobyte ratio for MP3s is too small, but again people, that is what you decided to purchase in the first place. Not wav files, not a CD.
The point was to test out their music and if you feel strongly about it then go buy the album and if not then don’t.