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Thom Yorke and BitTorrent
TheTruth1983
Posts: 13,462 Forum Member
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Can't believe there isn't a thread on Thom Yorke and his surprise album released on BitTorrent.
I would never have seen this coming given his comments on other online distribution methods but it is good to see him experimenting with BitTorrent.
Technology does not have to be the enemy and I wish more big name artists would go down a similar road in distributing their work.
I would never have seen this coming given his comments on other online distribution methods but it is good to see him experimenting with BitTorrent.
Technology does not have to be the enemy and I wish more big name artists would go down a similar road in distributing their work.
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Its ludicrous. All its doing is promoting torrents and getting people interested in them who previously were not. There will be hundreds of free torrents of his album available to download, so why does he think everyone will pay for his one.
He admits that he is trying something new and has no idea how it will go. At least there is someone out there willing to try something new, god knows the mainstream music industry would never do it.
This is how innovation happens. Trying new things, failing, trying again with changes.
But how exactly is it something new. Every album that an artist releases becomes a torrent anyway so what's the difference. Whats wrong with a simple download that's everyone has been doing for the last 10 years.
In Rainbows is right up there with The Bends and OK Computer as a complete album, and all their albums have their fair share of good songs, although Pablo Honey, Amnesiac and The King of Limbs are probably their weakest efforts.
Umm, it's illegal? At least there is someone who is trying to legitimise torrents as a valuable distribution network for all creators instead of leaving it primarily used by pirates.
I have been arguing all these years that torrents have a host of legitimate uses and not just for copyright infringement and here we have a big name artist trying to incorporate it into his business model.
Hail to the Thief is rubbish - sounds like a collection of half baked B-sides.
Don't a lot of people use torrents for Linux distros and other open source software as well? I know the makers of LXLE offer the download as a torrent.
They do (as well as other things) but it is mostly used for copyright infringement. That's why I see Thom Yorke's attempt to legitimise the technology as a good thing. If he is successful, it could spread and become the de facto distribution method.
I actually rate at least three quarters of that album quite highly. The other quarter is less impressive to me.
It may catch on, it may not. At the end of the day some people will still steal. Thom Yorke can afford not to make money out of this record, of course, but many smaller artists would like to make a living wage out of their output and the principle is that charging a few quid by selling direct may ultimately make them more money than simply streaming through Spotify and receiving a pittance, or handing over a vast chunk of proceeds to a record and distribution company.
It's easy to be cynical and assume there is nothing that can be done any more to change the way music is sold, but you never know till someone tries to challenge the status quo, so good on Yorke and Godrich for at least having a go.
Moreover the album is, in my opinion, very good and well worth £3.68. I won't miss that money - and believe me I am on a very very tight budget - and nor would many other people, and I know it's all going back to the people who created the music and not some suit in an office somewhere.
And..if you don't like Thom Yorke you don't have to download it. It's not been forced on people like that other album this month..:D
And Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows are great albums, just sayin
this is probably what a lot of radiohead fans are thinking. what happened to the guy who make the bends and ok computer?
recently it seems to be more about releasing music in ways slightly different from the norm, rather than bothering to make good music
radiohead are a bit like pink Floyd or Fleetwood mac in that they have an early period liked by some fans and a later period hated by early fans and vice versa fans of the later stuff don't like the early stuff much. with the bends and ok computer there were great b sides and non album tracks, but since then it's like he's mashed his MacBook keyboard in garageband whilst wearing a blindfold and rambled into the mic. the only thing memorable about the new album is all the digital effects used, not the actual music of lyrics
Radiohead still release plenty of great songs, they've just moved on with their music, like most interesting bands do. Something like Staircase from a couple of years ago stands right up there with their best work.
What does it sound like? Radiohead stuff or more electronic or something different altogether?
Except In Rainbows was the best album they've ever made.
I think this comment absolutely totally spot on, especially about him operating the Macbook blindfolded whilst mumbling into the mic
Ground Control to Major Thom
Your circuit's dead,
there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Thom?
Can you hear me, Major Thom?
Can you hear me, Major Thom?
Can you....
It's electronic. Okay, but I prefer the Radiohead material more.
Well the talk is that Apple are going to try their best to change it in conjunction with U2. Something about a new way to consume music that will make it very easy for independent artists to sell music and make people want to buy music rather than download it. No details yet tho.
Bandcamp does that nicely
You make it sound like that is a fact rather than your opinion.