The Mac Weekly

Issue date: 10/5/07 Section: The Arts

At the end of their 1977 single "Smokescreen," British punk band the Desperate Bicycles chant, "it was easy, it was cheap - go 'n' do it!" The idea of DIY recording as its own form of protest against mainstream orthodoxy became the song's message. As much as any other moment, this embodies punk as not just a musical sound but a real revolutionary break, a cultural space split wide open and ripe for revolt against commercial dominance.

That punk has been commodified and exploited ad nauseam is one of the most insulting travesties of late Capitalism. Yet that no other moment has presented such a rupture is, in my opinion, our very own fault. We have had the chance of a lifetime, quite literally at our fingertips, for over a decade now.

The Internet may have been born of the military-industrial complex, and it may be suffocated by corporate abuse, but it remains an infrastructure inherently given to cultural rupture and renovation; this potential seems to have escaped us.

Yet the last 8 years have seen the Internet posing a legitimate threat to corporations through the advent of rampant music downloading. As record sales plummeted, pundits chattered laughably about the need for the record companies to seize this opportunity for the advantage of the industry, and they tried. But for everyone who pays for a song on iTunes, there are a dozen savvy Soulseekers getting it for free.

Of course, downloading seems also to represent a slap in the face to artists, especially independent ones. Yet both this moral dilemma and the downloading culture's stillborn revolt against the corporate stranglehold on music made a leap toward resolution on Sept. 30.

You see, for a few years, the world's foremost "alternative" band, Radiohead, have been working on their seventh album and chronicling the entire process on their blog Dead Air Space. The blog usually served as a place for the band members to post cryptic comments, infuriating and enticing fans. But there was nothing left unsaid in guitarist Jonny Greenwood's Sunday evening post: "Well, the new album is finished and it's coming out in 10 days; We've called it 'In Rainbows.' Love from us all."

Exciting news for Radiohead fans. But as word of the album spread, it became apparent that this was more than a slick surprise. "In Rainbows," it turns out, will come out on vinyl and CD, eventually. But on Oct. 10, anyone who wants will be able to download the album directly from their website - and won't have to spend a cent more than they want. The order page for the "In Rainbows" digital download prompts the customer to enter whatever amount they want to pay for the album. "No really," the website insists. "It's up to you."

Continued...

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