Fakeout!

Many of us reported that Radiohead's offering downloads of their new In Rainbows album for whatever people wanted to pay was revolutionary, and a portent of the demise of the music business as we know it. And maybe it is, but it's also been revealed as a premeditated promotional ploy.

Imagine that!

Let's recap: On October 3rd, the iconoclastic Radiohead gave notice that beginning a week later, their new album could be downloaded for whatever you wanted to pay — as little as a UK penny (plus a 40 pence processing fee). A deluxe package that would ship in December was also available to pre-order for £40. This was hailed as a great move. And indeed it was, but now, their management admits that it was really a marketing ploy — to sell CDs!

"If we didn't believe that when people hear the music they will want to buy the CD, then we wouldn't do what we are doing," a representative of Radiohead's Courtyard Management told Music Week, the UK music industry trade magazine, last week.

He also said that as many as half of those who registered for the download had paid more than the minimum.

Wait a minute! That means at least half paid the minimum — a penny — contrary to earlier statements by management that most people paid the "normal retail price."  (I went the one-penny route and was debited 94¢ US.)

That's brilliant, really. They knew that the album would hit the music blogs and peer-to-peer sites anyway, and downloaded for free, so why not make a promotional splash and try to monetize the process?

Besides, they're still committed to CDs, which would explain why, at 160 megabits, the quality of the MP3 files were slightly better than crappy.

"You can't listen to a Radiohead record on MP3 and hear the detail; it's impossible," the management rep said. "We can't understand why record companies don't go on the offensive and say what a great piece of kit CDs are. CDs are undervalued and sold too cheaply."

There you have it. For those that complain that CDs are too expensive, fuggedaboutit. They are actually too cheap. (Huh?) That's a riot, considering that most observers have concluded that the format is on the brink of extinction. Guess not just yet.