Before i start this small article, i would like to point out that Radiohead are the best band in the world. Period. But even i've had enough of bands trying to think of the new big idea, that doesn't involve the progress of their own music. In an essay for 'Index on Censorship' Colin Greenwood has written "We have just finished another group of songs," he wrote. "And have begun to wonder about how to release them in a digital landscape that has changed again.".
The band are incredibly talented and create some of the most intelligent, inventive and intriguing music ever made, but there's no need to take that ideal into the distribution of music. Sure, with the release of 'In Rainbows' in 2007, Radiohead made headlines with a pay what you like scheme for the album's release. It was clever, and no doubt got them more fans (as i'm sure for some it was pay nothing at all) . But, Thom Yorke and the rest of the Radiohead's need to stop thinking about how to be more foreward-thinking; and how to fast track the 'synergy' of music distribution. Just stop. The clever part is the music, let it speak for itself. Maybe i'm cynical about it, maybe i just don't do enough blue-sky thinking to see why the world needs one band to release an album, in a different format to everyone else, i like iTunes and cd's (yes i'm 17 and reminiscing about iTunes). But, i think the underlying issue is maybe, just maybe, Radiohead are scared. Perhaps they think the next album is not going to be as well received as everything before it (i pray it's not so), so they need something big, inventive and ever so Radiohead-y just to get in those reviews.
But, i'm a cynic, and i hope i'm wrong.
