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Bring back format

Radiohead self-released In Rainbows today in 2007…

It is strange to consider that just ten years ago music’s value was suffering both an existential and economic crisis. Almost exactly a year before the launch of Spotify – and the beginning of the process that first legitimised, then turned streaming into the music’s industry dominant revenue stream – there were real question marks around what music was worth.

To fans it retained its intrinsic emotional value, of course, but with accusations that CDs were over priced, and even ardent supporters of acts happy to utilise illegitimate, digital sources to gain access to music for free, what did that connection mean when it came to people’s wallets?

Suggested by their management, Radiohead decided to test the water for real. Announcing the self-release of In Rainbows on 1 October 2007, on the band’s website fans were given the option of naming their own price for the download which would arrive in inboxes on 10 October – or they could pre-order a pricey deluxe box set version, while regular physical releases set to follow later in the year.

Whether or not Radiohead’s experiment contributed to solving issues around music’s value is a moot point. The ‘pay want you want’ policy drew strong criticism from other artists who suggested the volume of free copies obtained under the system proved it was no solution for musicians, and could even undermined the market for music – particularly for new acts who couldn’t rely on a large fanbase to generate revenue. On the otherhand, Radiohead’s unusual release plans certainly brought the debates around piracy and the worth of an album into sharp focus. And one should also note that on its ‘proper’ release in December 2007, In Rainbows went to the top of the album charts in both the UK and US, suggesting that digital and physical distribution models are not in compatible. Indeed, while Radiohead have never repeated the ‘name your price’ model since, as paid for streaming has increased in the decade following In Rainbows’ release, it could be argued that the model the band created (possibility inadvertently) of offering cheap digital access alongside more premium priced physical products is one that many acts now utilise today as they balance streams and direct fan sales.

One thing that Radiohead did create which cannot be copied is the record itself. For the debate about its release, Radiohead’s seventh album has achieved modern classic status. After the opinion dividing (at the time) releases of Kid A, Amnesiac and Hail To The Thief, on In Rainbows Radiohead beautifully balance their need for experimentation with the creation of luscious, soul stirring melodies – just as they did with OK Computer a decade before.

The marriage of the rambunctious squelches, Thom Yorke’s fragile vocals and warm, skilfully picked guitars on opener 15 Step set the tone for the whole record. Engaging and illuminating, yet truly moving on an indefinable physical level. With N**e enveloping the listener like an emotional mist, the restless Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi conjuring up a sense-dazzling dreamscape and the brooding desperation of All I Need, In Rainbows proves to be an intensely intimate album.

Yet it’s not a claustrophobic or stifling experience. The light, and the floating guitars and strings of House Of Cards and the urgent, diving melodies of Jigsaw Falling Into Place managing to retain that personal impact, while stretching to encompass an horizon-spanning, cinematic scope, before the hymn-like Videotape brings the record to a simple but emotionally resonant close.

The manner and impact of Radiohead’s seventh album release is likely to be studied and debated for another ten years, but a decade on In Rainbows’ quality and artistic legacy is beyond question.
Paul Stokes