Radiohead shuns iTunes in favour of 7digital
Finally, Thom Yorke’s miserable curmudgeonry has amounted to something. Well, excluding their six albums and his solo album, natch. But you must admit, he’s like a younger version of Morrissey, minus the dashing good looks.
You might be aware that after the Beatles, Radiohead are the last high-profile band to refuse to flog their tunes to Apple’s iTunes, as they apparently aren’t keen on Apple’s practise of selling individual tracks instead of full albums. Fair enough, when you consider an artist’s album is their artwork, and to sell just tiny pieces of it would be akin to ripping strips of a painting off for the stingy public who don’t want to pay full price for the whole masterpiece. I mean, have you heard Kid A?
EMI, Radiohead’s record label, have spoken about their disapproval of Apple’s methods on behalf of the English band, saying “iTunes insists that all its albums are sold unbundled, but 7digital doesn’t. Radiohead prefer to have their albums sold complete. The artist has a choice, and if they feel strongly then we respect that.”
On 7digital, all of Radiohead’s albums are being sold, alongside some early singles, for £6.99 each, and are available in a DRM-free 320kbps MP3 format. Considering Apple sells their tracks at just 256kbps quality, and for 99pence a pop (7digital’s works out at 87pence per track), this is quite a deal for miserablists wanting to enjoy Yorke’s whiny vocals. Hey, I’m there!
Radiohead’s albums at 7digital (via Wired’s Listening Post)
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