So after many attempts I figure it's worth just giving up on the old MT (which for some reason after countless attempts has never allowed me to post.. still no idea why) and moved into a life of lurking. Funny how a album release can bring you back to notice old things but it's reassuring for a bit of nice quiet.It's been interesting to follow the discussions on 'conspiracy' over Chieftain Mews and co. but most of all to see how downright hopeless the main news sources are at following a story if they actually have to -search- rather then wait for it to come to them.
What really bugs me is how the Financial Times (and thus the world copying on it's toes) was ready to beat the drum that the pay-what-you-want model was 'dead' and yet being a Aussie who believe it or not doesn't own a credit card the real exciting thing about the release of King of Limbs was that unlike In Rainbows it wasn't a matter of price but the fact that I (and anyone else with a email address and a bank account) COULD Pay for the album. Where where the stories there? Instead of running with the fact that they have managed to make the prospects of paying a reasonable amount (which is still waaay cheaper then playing hit and miss with the local cd store) better prospects then playing pot luck with Torrents. I think I saw a interview ages ago with Ed pointing out the very simple fact that it's impossible to make people pay for music if they don't have the system in place to do so.
When In Rainbows was released I clicked and got curious to see the 'It's up to you' but really it wasn't because it was either a case of trying to explain to my Dad why I needed to borrow his credit card to buy a cd or wait the three weeks or whatever it was and 3 cd stores to find one that stocked In Rainbows on release (adding another week or two on account of living in a rural town on the wrong side of the planet). This time I got the message 2nd hand though my boyfriends facebook (which I avoid), checked the website (squeeded for a bit) banged my head against the computer a couple of times (Turns out Firefox4 Beta does not like the cookies) did what apparently none of the mediafolks did and clicked on 'pay with paypal' and wola, all good and easier then buying a used record player on ebay. Awesome... which reminds me that a record player should probably be on the shopping list now. (My big thoughts on what was coming last year was - Better by a Record Player. This year is: It's all about dancing!)
The world has changed, I remember the first thing I ever bought online was the 'Book' special edition of Amnesiac, I also saw the future death of the record industry the day I made a bus trip 2 towns over to buy The Eraser, only to find that the major cd store didn't have it because they 'don't carry independent artists' .. ignoring the White Stripe cds they had on the other shelf who where also on XL. They offered to order it in for me. I walked across town and bought it at a smaller chain related to the store I used to visit, the guy there was nice and knew me well enough to order in Com Lag just for fans. I had the misfortune of being stuck in a queue a McDonalds thanks to my best mate when King of Limbs was released.. talk about timing, if i'd remembered the free mcWifi I could have logged in and downloaded the album onto my phone while waiting for chips, no app, no drm, just good old mp3 files to a cheap android handset.. that's a real revolution right there!
In short, Thank you Radiohead + Management for making the album fair even for us little folks stuck out at sea :)
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