Here's the new Heidi Montag single. We imagine that this song will sell because the music industry isn't taste driven, though probably not to anyone who caught that Radiohead reference here.
For those who want to avoid bleeding ears and eyes, the video feels like it was produced in Russia immediately following the fall of communism. It's as if fake breasts and blond hair were the truest form of expression.
No offense to the Russians.
NO ALARMS AND NO SURPRISES On Super Bowl weekend, Sunday Styles is bereft of its happy couples from Ivy League colleges and/or schools that cost as much Ivy League ones, and must turn to trends. The latest: celebrities living it up in Vegas, where they given freedom to pimp themselves on their own terms. “In Vegas, I don’t have to worry about photographers waiting outside my house every day because they can’t wait outside my hotel room,” Spencer Pratt says. His girlfriend, Heidi Montag's thoughts on the matter, or any matter whatsoever? Silence. [NYT]
THE ALBUM SO NICE, PEOPLE BOUGHT IT TWICE In Rainbows, the Radiohead album we can't stop writing about or debating, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. Since we don't own a CD player and got the mp3s for free, we're going to pass on buying this one. [MTV]
DREAMS Radiohead is touring North America this year. Jerks and idiots alike will scramble for tickets. But in the end, unless Radiohead "revolutionizes" ticket buying, only ticketmaster manipulators and those who don't mind overpaying on Craigslist will be able to score tickets. [BrooklynVegan]
After extensive [Ed: Perhaps even over-extensive!] Jossip coverage of Radiohead's pricing model for "In Rainbows," neither Radiohead fans nor editors with "no taste in music" have any residual interest in the subject.
We will, however, say this much about Jon Parales's sit-down with Radiohead. The headline ("Pay What You Want For This Article") combined with the fate of the short-lived TimesSelect initiative may just prove one self-described jerk's point about the pitfalls of Radiohead pricing scheme.
Which is to say, we won't be shelling out our hard-earned cash to pay for the privilege of reading Parales' work product. Though we certainly have no problem giving him – and, by extension, you – our two cents.
Are you the editor of a struggling magazine with no subscription base? Looking to get free publicity and increase your circulation? The Radiohead School of Publishing might be before you.
Hoping to “create exposure for a relatively new magazine” (that began in 1995), Premier Guitar is playing the “pay what you want” card. 10,000 copies of its December issue will be sent to non-subscribers offering them the magazine for free, or whatever price they think the magazine is worth.
The magazine claims it had the idea before Paste, another struggling magazine that mistook its popularity for Radiohead’s. We don’t believe them, though. “Serious and accomplished guitarists” are such posers.
The optimists at Record of the Day estimated last month that Radiohead took in an average of $8 per download for their pay-what-you-want album In Rainbows.
But official data reflects a bleaker human nature. Turns out only 38 percent of downloaders paid anything, and when they did, they gave about $6. Factoring in all the freeloaders, that’s an average of $2.26 for the album.
Americans who bought the album spent more than the rest of the world, paying around $8, once again confirming Europeans' suspicions that our country's just not very bright.
After a successful pay-any-price model that left some Jossip editors feeling like jerks, Radiohead has moved in on signing contracts with record labels to distribute In Rainbows through traditional means. The band has shunned larger record companies, and has reached deals with smaller domestic and international label to maintain copyright ownership of the album. [NYT]
Some 1.2 million people downloaded the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows last week.
In context, Bruce Springstein, who topped the Billboard charts this week, sold only 335,000 copies of his new album, Magic.
Since the cost of the album was self-determined, it’s hard to say how much Radiohead actually earned. Record of the Day, a British music newsletter, conducted a survey of 3,000 downloaders and found people paid an average of $8. If this sample can be trusted, Radiohead took home $9.6 million last week.
With In Rainbows, everyone is a winner. Jerks got a free album, idiots got an inflated sense of self-importance for supporting the arts, and Radiohead got millions of dollars.
Sometimes I just have to say, “what the fuck?” and the royal we doesn’t work as well. These are my thoughts—raronauer
Cord Jefferson over at Mollygood thinks I am a jerk for not paying for the new Radiohead album.
This from a man who once said Victoria Beckham’s forehead looked like an everything bagel.
I might be a jerk, but at least I'm not an idiot. Check out Cord's justification for dropping ten bucks on a free album.
Sometimes I just have to say, “what the fuck?” and the royal we doesn’t work as well. These are my thoughts—raronauer
Back in high school, there were few Radiohead fans bigger than me. As a precocious teen living in the suburbs, driving around aimlessly listening to OK Computer was my standard Sunday afternoon. The highlight of my senior year was seeing Radiohead live.
So I was pretty excited when the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows, came out yesterday at a pay what you want cost. And what did I pay for the new album from the band that “changed my life” when I was 16? Nothing.
I wasn’t an economics major, but when someone offers me the choice of paying for something or getting it for free, I usually choose free. And while I get that the pay-what-you-want model still encourages people to pay for the album, I’ve dealt with enough Jewish grandparents to know when I’m being fooled.
CONTINUED »
After Radiohead’s media-savvy move to make their latest album, Rainbow, available for any price online, Oasis and Jamiroquai are considering making the same move.
Back when we were 13, we loved What’s the Story, Morning Glory. To be honest, we still get a little misty when we hear “Champagne Supernova.” But for now, we’re content just hearing Oasis during the end of AT&T commercials. Even for free, their latest studio album would be a rip-off.
So much that it's willing to give its new album, "Rainbows," away for free in a pay-what-you-want model than sell off individual tracks on the iTunes store. [BrooklynVegan]
• Through some miracle of medicine, Keith Richards is still being kept alive for Superbowl halftime shows and lackluster tours. [Billboard]
• Coachella boos Madonna and her British accent. Yeah, yeah, we know it's Fox News. [Fox]
• Johnny Cash keeps coming out with more unreleased material. We have to wonder, is he chillin with Tupac up there? [Pitchfork Media]
• Bruce Springsteen teaches The Killers that America is a wonderful place. Even if we're kicking out the foreigners. [MTV]
• Hey everybody, Courtney Love returned from the dead this weekend. And, look, she brought Billy Corgan with her! [NME]
• Much to the delight of fans (uh, that would be us) Radiohead has come out of its cryogenic freeze chambers to grace the worlds with another tour. [Rolling Stone]
• A fake Radiohead show in Las Vegas sold out within minutes. And those metro emo fans really didn't want the topless girls dinner show. [ProductshopNYC]
• American Idol's executive producer has some criticisms for his faithful judges (apparently a few of which center around learning words other than "good" and "bad".) Hey, no one expects genius from Paula Abdul. [Lowdown]
&bul; Here are some suggestions from stars about what to put on that Valentine's Day Mix. That is, if Jason Bigg doesn't totally ruin the moment for you. [MTV]
• Madonna wears the same clothes every day. And the same leotards every night. [TMZ]
• Britney Spears covering Mardi Gras and Hilary Duff working for NASCAR? Can't these teen pop singers start doing something worth caring about? You know, like teaching their seven-month-old to drive, or getting their teeth capped? [Rolling Stone]
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