Influx

Radiohead delivered onto the world a complete surprise; they released an album when everyone was expecting to have to wait a year for. They announced it a few days before launch. There’s no ad campaign, no PR campaign, no hype, no leaks, no listening parties, no preview issues sent out to critics and journalists. No experts listening ahead of time and writing reviews, just everyone sharing the same experience at the same time, without the noise or clutter of expert opinions in the air.

The band made the news for the pricing story, but cutting out the hype, the critics and going straight to the user the band has created a communal listening experience, that’s just as revolutionary as its famed “name your own price” model.

It will be very interesting to follow how the conversation develops and flows around this experience.

More thinking on the same theme here.

Image by Thom Shannon taken from the Flickr group In Rainbows album art competition

Posted by Ed Cotton