Well this is interesting. Radiohead announced last evening on the band’s blog that they will be releasing a new album, In Rainbows, in ten days (presumably self-released,) initially for sale only through the website inrainbows.com. The record will be available on vinyl and via variable-priced digital download

The only CD version (so far announced) will be sold with the vinyl package:

THIS CONSISTS OF THE NEW ALBUM, IN RAINBOWS, ON CD
AND ON 2 X 12 INCH HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL RECORDS.
A SECOND, ENHANCED CD CONTAINS MORE NEW SONGS, ALONG WITH DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTWORK.
THE DISCBOX ALSO INCLUDES ARTWORK AND LYRIC BOOKLETS.
ALL ARE ENCASED IN A HARDBACK BOOK AND SLIPCASE.

While the digital download of the album will be variably priced, with the buyer choosing how much they want to pay for it. Really.

The stunning thing about this move is that while others have experimented with this sort of thing, none with Radiohead’s clout or continued cultural relevance have — the best analogue would be Prince’s ill-fated move to self-released albums in the ’90s, years before distribution of media online was practical to most music fans, and years after his cultural and musical peak. It’ll be fascinating to see how this plays out — the music distribution model I’ve been most impressed with in recent years is the “buy the vinyl, get a free mp3 download” approach that indies such as Touch & Go have been experimenting with. The model acknowledges both the fetish-object appeal of vinyl (which still inspires a generation-transcending collector’s devotion that CD’s never enjoyed) while letting listeners also enjoy the music far more conveniently on their iPods — without having to re-buy an album they already own, or Bittorrent something they legally own in another format.

What will be interesting to see is how much Radiohead’s clout will affect sales and the industry as a whole — since there are no metrics for this sort of thing, the dinosaurs at the major labels and the RIAA will likely declare it a failure outright, but even if the band sells less units on vinyl and makes less gross income from variable-priced downloads, their net income could even out with what they would make by foisting a traditionally-distributed CD at an ever-shrinking market. The RIAA will no doubt declare it a failure regardless of the outcome, just as the anti-industry hordes will declare it a triumph, and only Radiohead and their accountants will really know for sure, after looking at sales, production costs, reduced distribution and marketing costs, and tour ticket sales. But whatever the turnout may be, this clearly marks a turning point for the industry, as the band is uniquely positioned with the cultural and economic clout to land a severely disruptive blow at the industry status quo.