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Poor Thom Yorke. He just wants to make his music and post cryptic blog updates, and everyone has to be getting in his face, whether it’s about his band’s digital-distribution experiments or their Grammy antics. Why can’t people just leave him alone? Ha ha, because it gets them press, of course.
First, there’s Robert Smith, who was banging on about the band’s “pay what you want for the low-quality MP3s of our album before we release it properly” experiment:
“The Radiohead experiment of paying what you want – I disagreed violently with that.
“You can’t allow other people to put a price on what you do, otherwise you don’t consider what you do to have any value at all and that’s nonsense.
“If I put a value on my music and no one’s prepared to pay that, then more fool me, but the idea that the value is created by the consumer is an idiot plan, it can’t work.”
Hmm. I wonder how Bob feels about In Rainbows‘ fixed prices for all its physical formats? Oh wait, nobody asked him about that because every lazy reporter out there misunderstands the whole “Radiohead model” concept. Sigh. Someday, maybe they will learn.
Then Kanye West got into the act, whining during a taping of VH1 Storytellers that took place on the Friday after the Grammys that he was annoyed by Thom Yorke snubbing him at the awards show. Apparently these comments were so controversial they were cut from the broadcast—and yet they weren’t too controversial to be leaked to the press the day before said curiously underpromoted broadcast aired. Whew!
During the taping, according to a Reuters reporter, West was aggrieved that Radiohead singer Thom Yorke had allegedly snubbed him backstage at the Grammys five days earlier. That hurt, West told the audience, because he idolizes the British band, and considers it one of his few creative rivals.
“So when he performed at the Grammys, I sat the f—- down,” West said.
And yet West thinks that Chris Brown should get a break because “everyone makes mistakes in life.” So you tell me: Does dude need a heavy dose of perspective, or a self-esteem boost since he obviously needs more results on his personal Google News alerts?
Robert Smith blasts “idiot” Radiohead [Music Radar]
Kanye West’s Radiohead tirade cut from VH1 Storytellers [Reuters]
Let’s not forget Quote Unquote Records has been doing the “Radiohead Model” long before Radiohead.
kanye sucks. I really can’t stress that fact enough. he’s maybe the least-chill person on earth right now.
@sXenester: Kinda hard to forget something approximately 99.99% of the population didn’t know about to start with.
I was prepared to be “team _____” for whoever was shitting on Radiohead, until I saw that it was Kanye.
@chachwitablog: Well said.
@chachwitablog: @Al Shipley:
No dudes. Kanye rulez. Its his ridiculous, least chill persona/personality that makes him such a brilliant public figure. Not to mention putting out 3 of the greatest hip hop records of the last decade.
Take that. Haterz.
“least-chill person on earth right now”
I’d like to hold that up and laugh at it…Kanye can’t come to the co-op hummus-a-thon!
@Thesemodernsocks: I love Kanye, but he needs to sit the fuck down, and not just when Radiohead is performing.
Wait, doesn’t the record company charge people what they want for Cure albums? Or does that whole $18.99 at Virgin thing just happen to be exactly what Robert Smith thinks his music is worth?
dinosaur thinking… not surprising from a guy who hasn’t put out a good album in ten years.
So, Maura, can you sum up “the Radiohead model” in a sentence or two?
Also, Kanye: you whine a LOT.
@Rock You Like An Iracane: Yes.
In the weeks and months before your album is going to come out, when promos would normally be sent out to press, allow fans to buy low-quality MP3s (recall that In Rainbows’ VBR was just under the OiNK standard of 192Kbps) for whatever price they’d like to pay. This way, they can tide themselves over as discussion of the record begins from critics who have access and blogs; the aim, of course, is that they buy a legit, higher-quality copy of the album (whether as a special edition or just a plain old CD) when the release date hits.
It’s like the Stars model, but with variable pricing in the beginning and a shitload more positive press because it’s RADIOHEAD OMG. (NB: The latter factor is why The Radiohead Model is pretty much unable to be repeated, ever.)
What’s a creative rival?
@Maura Johnston: Good, thank you, love it.
I am bookmarking that comment and appreciate the explanation.
@Rock You Like An Iracane: always happy to help!
btw, here’s a link to the stars news from ‘07:
[idolator.com]
@Maura Johnston: This, right here, is what makes you my favorite music blogger. (No offense to your talented and lovely compatriots here at Idolator.)
Following up in the comments and being personable are wonderful things that go a long way.
@Rock You Like An Iracane: aw, you. i’m blushing!
You’re no one until you’ve been hated on by everyone from Robert Smith to Kanye “my asshat ’80s shag haircut merits a smack in the face” West. Thom Yorke is definitely doing something right.
And yes, Kanye needs to spend far more time sitting the eff down and not subjecting us to his half-baked Tears for Fears samples. If he could write one song half as good as “House of Cards,” maybe then we could talk.
*for the record, I’m a fan of Kanye (generally), and paid to see the ‘Glow in the Dark’ tour twice last year–which I enjoyed both times.
You’re no one until you’ve been hated on by everyone from Robert Smith to Kanye “my asshat ’80s shag haircut merits a smack in the face” West. Thom Yorke is definitely doing something right.
And yes, Kanye needs to spend far more time sitting the eff down and not subjecting us to his half-baked Tears for Fears samples. If he could write one song half as good as “House of Cards,” maybe then we could talk.
*for the record, I’m a fan of Kanye (generally), and paid to see the ‘Glow in the Dark’ tour twice last year–which I enjoyed both times.
@Thesemodernsocks: ok, yes, I am being a hater. For the record, I think his music is generally great. But I’m not really sure if all of his “persona” is necessary for it. In fact, I’m positive his persona is not necessary for it.
oh, and p.s. “College Dropout” is his best album, and certainly one of the best hip-hop records of the decade. The second one (forget name, don’t care) had some incredible singles but was weaker overall. Graduation I thought was pretty amazing at first, but I feel like it hasn’t held up like I thought it would (granted, it’s only been like a year). “808s” just kinda blows – I really like Robocop, though.
To put Kanye’s comments in perspective, let’s not forget this other choice quote from that show: “O.J. Simpson, amazing. Is he not? What he did, when he did, what he did. Was he not amazing though?”
@Thierry:
You have to admit – the series of Naked Gun films was pretty incredible.
@dog door: “not surprising from a guy who hasn’t put out a good album in ever.”
/fixed
So Thom Yorke beat up Rihanna?