Stephen Krewson | Exit Music (for an era)

Imagine a world in which everything cost as much as you wanted to pay. Airline tickets for fall break? $50 sounds reasonable. That Porsche you've had your eye on? Yours for a grand. Dinner at Le Bec Fin? No more than the Dollar Menu.

Such a state of affairs is both ludicrous and impossible. Yet British rock group Radiohead is doing its part to usher in this brave, new and very affordable world.

On Wednesday, their new album "In Rainbows" was released exclusively on the band's Web site. It is available for download in mp3 format, free of restrictive digital-rights management encoding.

The price? You decide. That's right, you. The move is nothing short of a revolution for music distribution, one which promises to sweep the industry's current legal and technological minefield clean.

I visited radiohead.com Tuesday night in anticipation of the album's release. The appeal of the site's slick yet simple layout was visceral. Against a backdrop of infrared hues, the bold typeface seemed to signal a sea change in the way people approach music. When it came time to enter my pre-order price (in pounds, of course), I didn't hesitate.

Since I am a perfectly rational actor when it comes to economics I paid nothing, slapping Radiohead across the face with the invisible hand of the market. To heighten the post-purchase experience, Thom Yorke and Co. slipped in delightful, post-modern teasers such as "We value your custom." and "This transaction will appear on your credit card bill as WASTE PRODUCTS LTD."

But do fans think "In Rainbows" will work? College sophomore Dylan Boynton mentioned Radiohead's "cult following" when assessing the album's novel sales model. "It takes a band like Radiohead to pull it off."

Thus far, Radiohead has been able to generate tremendous demand simply from Web announcements. There is also the network effect. "My roommate who's not a fan bought it," said Boynton.

"I think it will bring in people," he continued. "Maybe those people will go to a concert." With record sales in steep decline, similar download schemes could act as loss leaders that entice consumers into spending on tours or merchandising.

Even standard digital-music stores like iTunes are not the big money-makers. Most of the profit goes straight to the RIAA and the record labels. Some of these media empires covet an even larger share. An ongoing lawsuit by Vivendi Inc. - parent of Universal Music Group - alleges that its current split with iTunes (Vivendi gets $0.70 on the dollar, Apple gets $0.30) is "indecent."

What's really indecent is the way these cumbersome middlemen are robbing the artists who make the music. While it's true that substantial licensing, marketing and production costs are incurred in the music business, it's outrageous that artists only receive around $1-$2 per album according to most estimates.

An ongoing class-action lawsuit filed in 2006 against Sony by Cheap Trick and the Allman Brothers Band complained that Sony was only giving artists around 4.5 cents for every track downloaded on iTunes.

"In Rainbows" should reap far greater dividends for Radiohead. "I'll pay more than a dollar; I don't have a problem giving money to artists," Boynton said. "For the amount I listen to their music, $10 is fair."

That figure was echoed by Mike Mongiello, drummer for Apogee, a local psychedelic punk rock band. "I won't be an idiot and give them $2," said Mongiello, "I'll probably pay $10 for it."

Psychologically, there will be pressure on people who consider themselves generous or to have good taste in music to make a contribution above the freeloading "idiots" - like myself - who paid nothing.

Not that Radiohead needs their help at this point in their careers. As Mongiello, who I met browsing at The Marevelous, put it, "["In Rainbows"] will work. For one thing, they're rich. They don't care."

He swept his hand over the racks of records and discs: "None of this stuff will be relevant soon."

Well said. Digital music is the future; however that future is bound by a Byzantine arrangement of cartels, copyrights and cash. Six Penn students are currently being attacked by the RIAA for illegal music sharing; eleven others have settled to the tune of roughly $3.000. Radiohead has taken a bold step towards personal and musical freedom that should be emulated by more artists.

Who knows? If "In Rainbows" makes the revolution a reality, I might even pay Radiohead back.

Stephen Krewson is a College sophomore from Schenectady, NY. His e-mail is krewson@dailypennsylvanian.com. The Parthian Shot appears on Fridays.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.