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AP Business writer Alex Vega penned a great story about how much fans of the band Radiohead are willing to pay for the rock bands latest release:

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Radiohead let its fans decide how much to pay for a digital copy of the band’s latest release, “In Rainbows,” and more than half of those who downloaded the album chose to pay nothing, according to a study by a consumer research firm.

Some 62 percent of the people who downloaded “In Rainbows” in a four- week period last month opted not to pay the British alt-rockers a cent. But the remaining 38 percent voluntarily paid an average of $6, according to the study by comScore Inc.
Radiohead broke with its past practice of releasing its music in CD format and through a major record label when it released its seventh studio album online itself. The biggest wrinkle was the band’s decision to let fans pay as much or as little as they wanted to download a copy.

The results of the study were drawn from data gathered from a few hundred people who are part of comScore’s database of 2 million computer users worldwide. The firm, which has permission to monitor the computer users’ online behavior, did not provide a margin of error for the study’s results.

Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 29, about 1.2 million people visited the Web site the band set up for fans to download the album, comScore said Monday. The research firm did not say how many people in its study actually bought the album.
Among U.S. residents, about 40 percent who downloaded the album paid to do so. Their average payment was $8.05, the firm said.

Some 36 percent of the fans outside the U.S. who downloaded the album opted to pay; on average, those fans paid $4.64, according to the study.

Radiohead’s U.S.-based publicist said Tuesday the band had no comment on the study.

The online release sent shock waves through the recording industry, with some hailing it as a shrewd move at a time of declining CD sales industry wide and others writing it off as a publicity stunt that amounted to the band giving away its music.
The band, which also offered fans the option of buying a lavish box set for about $82, plans to release the album in CD format some time next year.

I have been saying for some time that the record labels are in trouble. Big trouble. Huge trouble. Gargantuan trouble. Garth Brooks owns his entire catalog and has made and completed a deal with Wal-Mart. He now releases another greatest hits CD with a few new tracks on it and no label has a taste. Radiohead gave no label a taste. Soon artists are going to go direct to iTunes, Amazon, and the other online distributors. Some labels are trying to tap into the artists touring as another source of revenue. This is traditionally all the artists money, less production costs. Ticket prices for shows will start to come down too. Thanks to Garth. No ticket price for any of the Kansas City concerts was more than $32.50. Sure, some ticket brokers have gotten a hold of some and have made a commodity out of the tickets, but as a rule, the ticket prices were intentionally low. Just as the Eagles set the tone for high ticket prices on the Hell Freezes Over Tour, Garth will bring those ticket prices down.

Radiohead may be setting a new example: Pay what you want… we’ll make more.

This is going to be good to watch : )

As a guideline I don’t get into political issues on this site very often. Looks like that is about to change.

I tend to lean very conservative on most issues and liberal on others. The global warming issue is one I have avoided, until now. Yesterday was the last straw. I am watching the football game on NBC and saw this: (you tube submission from hotair.com)

What complete and utter hypocrisy. Turn out the lights on your set? Then fly someone to Greenland and other parts of the world? Let’s illustrate the absurd nature of this purely symbolic act with some absurdity of out own in question format:

How much ice will the heat from those television lights in Greenland, using requiring between 400 and 2000 watts of power each, melt?

Should we also turn off the refrigerator keeping your beer cold?

How much carbon was emitted in transportation?

How much carbon was emitted from the burning candles on the set?

Why not turn off the projection/signage systems on the set too?

Do the sports and news departments at NBC enjoy warm beer while watching football?

If they were out on the ice, did they need a gas powered generator to power the lights? If so, how much carbon was emitted in the exhaust?

Will NBC admit that the purchasing of carbon credits did nothing to reduce the carbon that they added to the atmosphere?

In addition to wanting us to turn out lights, why did NBC not ask us to turn off our televisions?

Did Matt Lauer really call Al Gore one of the greatest “mimes”on the subject?

If Ann Curry is braving 50 below zero temperatures, wouldn’t the ice there stay frozen?

Why is NBC obviously taking a side in what has surely become a political issue?

Are you Smarter than a 5th grader? Are the polar ice caps melting causing the sea level to rise? If you fill a glass to the rim with ice and water and set it on your counter top, how much water of the melted water, not condensation, will be on the counter when the ice melts?

How funny is it that the guys on the set are laughing about this?

What does any of this have to do with football?