2:42pm Wednesday 10th October 2007
By Caron Kemp
Rock group Radiohead's seventh album, In Rainbows, has gone on "sale" today via their website. Except for the first time in music history there is no fixed price tag.
We are effectively being told to pay however much we think it's worth; anything from nothing to £100. In theory everyone could just download it for free (legally).
It's an interesting experiment and quite a brave statement about the popularity of the band (or the generosity of the British public).
No doubt there will be people trying their luck, who pop the album onto their ipod with no shift in their bank balance. But my guess is more people will pay over the odds and it'll end up being a
nice little money spinner.
See there's a restaurant that tried this approach in Childs Hill and every time I have eaten there I feel guilted into loosening my purse strings. However good the food at Just Around The Corner
might be, I still feel it more appropriate to value it that little bit higher that necessary. I guess it's my conscience kicking in.
But it got me thinking what we would actually pay for things if we chose the price tag. I'd pay more for chocolate than cherries. I wouldn't pay so much for my phone bill just to speak to people but
I'd give anything for some silence. And all those qualities or moments in time that we think are priceless; well I'd stick a high value on them.
Anyway good luck to Radiohead. I hope they find a pot of gold at the end of their (In) Rainbow(s).
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