Radiohead announced that you can pay whatever you like for In Rainbows, the latest album from the best band in the world. A TIME article states:

Thom Yorke told TIME, "I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say 'F___ you' to this decaying business model."

And the record executives realize what is going on

"This feels like yet another death knell," emailed an A&R executive at a major European label. "If the best band in the world doesn't want a part of us, I'm not sure what's left for this business."

Artists will have to become publishers, and publishers will have to become artists. You don't need to sign a contract or jump on a plane to find customers. Anyone who has a blog with a following has no need for a publisher, outside of vanity.


More...