Radiohead Launches Song Remix Contest with iTunes

Radiohead has partnered with Apple's iTunes Store to give fans the ability to create their own remix for their new single "Nude," offering the separate vocal and instrumental parts of the song for download from the online store. Finished songs may then be uploaded to RadioheadRemix.com, where the public will vote on them; users may also place voting widgets on their own websites that will count in the final tally. (Digital Media Wire)

The New Music Equation: Radiohead, Trent Reznor, Etc.

It seems that the business model of giving music away and relying on voluntary payments boils down to the following equation: A x B x C = D. where A = the total # of people who acquire the work ; B = the percent who actually pay for it ; C = the average amount each person pays ; and D = the total revenue. received. In theory, the beauty of the equation is that -- if all else remains the same -- any increase in A, B, or C, however small, results in more D. (Digital Audio Insider)

Radiohead 'in fresh row with EMI'

Radiohead have apparently begun another dispute with their old record label over a planned greatest hits album. EMI is now planning to release a greatest hits collection to coincide with their spring tour of the US, according to the band. Phil Selway, the band's drummer, said the label owned the rights to do so. After they quit and released In Rainbows independently EMI published its own Radiohead box set. (Digital Spy)

Radiohead finds sales, even after downloads

In a twist for the music industry's digital revolution, "In Rainbows," the new Radiohead album that attracted wide attention when it was made available three months ago as a digital download for whatever price fans chose to pay, ranked as the top-selling album in the country this week after the CD version hit record shops and other retailers. The album, the first in four years from the closely watched British rock act, sold 122,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That represents a mixed result for the band, but it's far from a flop, considering the steep decline in music sales in the last four years and the typically weak sales in the post-Christmas period. (International Herald Tribune)

More artists mulling the Radiohead path

"Who needs a record company?" That's what essentially what Thom Yorke and his fellow members of Radiohead said last year when they released their path-breaking new album "In Rainbows" on their own after bidding adieu to EMI, the band's longtime record company. Now another revolt is brewing at EMI. The Times of London reports that EMI recording artist Robbie Williams is withholding his next album to protest cost-cutting by Terra Firma. Coldplay, another one of EMI's biggest acts, might do the same. (Fortune)

Radiohead's "Rainbows" yields pot of gold as hits No. 1

British rock band Radiohead scored its second No. 1 album on the U.S. pop chart on Wednesday with a release that was initially sold on the Internet under a revolutionary "name your own price" system. The critically acclaimed album sold a modest 122,000 copies during its first official week in U.S. stores, according to Nielsen SoundScan data for the week ended January 6. "In Rainbows" also topped the charts in Britain, Canada, France, Japan and Ireland, said a representative for the group. (Reuters)

Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' Appears On iTunes

Radiohead has broken its iTunes holdout. The British alternative rock group's latest album "In Rainbows" has been made available to download from Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store, the first and only album in its recording career to appear there. (Billboard)

Thom Yorke and David Byrne get WIRED

WIRED - whose editor-in-chief Chris Anderson sits on MidemNet's Visionary Chair Committee - has just proved once again why it is so essential: if you haven't yet read the exclusive chat between Radiohead's Thom Yorke (left) and former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, get over there now! Byrne's analysis of old and new artist deal models is equally insightful...