Radiohead on In Rainbows: Pay Whatever You Want

Radiohead, releasing their new album In Rainbows on October 10, have told fans they can pay whatever they want for it.

The Telegraph reports: "While loyal fans are likely to want to pay the band something, customers could opt to pay as little 45p - the credit card handling fee. The album is also available separately as part of a £40 box-set which includes the album on CD, two vinyl records, a CD with additional songs, photos, artwork and lyrics. It is Radiohead's first album since Hail to the Thief, which was released in 2003 after which the band's contract with EMI/Capitol expired."

Telegraph blogger Shane Richmond notes: "None of the things Radiohead are doing with this is unique. All of them have been developed and used by other artists for quite some time. But this is Radiohead. When one of the world's biggest bands does something like this, it will get noticed and it will start people thinking. Record labels survived for years on the value they added to the process. They made it possible for bands to make records and get them into the stores and then used their marketing weight to get those records played on the radio and featured in magazines. In the process they made enormous profits by overcharging fans and underpaying artists. They no longer add any value to the process. In fact, they act as a barrier between fans and musicians. It's time to move them out of the way and Radiohead have just showed us how."

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Music News: Amazon Goes Digital, Plus Duran Duran, Kurt Cobain, Madonna Rihanna, Ne-Yo

Please welcome Robbie Daw, who will be penning occasional music posts for us here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own pop music site called Chart Rigger.

Venison, artichoke tapenade and Doritos? I guess at this point we shouldn't be surprised Amazon.com's got these items for sale. And starting today, one-stop shopping at the online store could be fully realized with the launch of Amazon MP3 Beta, a service offering MP3 files compatible with iTunes and Windows Media Player, free of Digital Rights Management restrictions (meaning you can play the tracks on iPods or any MP3 player, use them on multiple computers and burn them onto CDs as many times as you like). Amazon is offering up a library of more than 2 million songs, with their Top 100 downloads priced at 89 cents, while most others are 99 cents. The Top 100 albums are $8.99, while other albums range from $5.99 to $9.99.

Not all artists and labels are on board, though...especially not ones still requiring the DRM restrictions. A search for Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, for instance, prompts a disclaimer noting that while Amazon doesn't offer these catalogs as MP3s, "more titles are being added daily". You're then presented with the offer to go back into the ol'-fashioned Amazon music store, where your Justin or Britney tunes are sure enough available on trusty CD. Just don't forget to throw the Doritos in your shopping cart.

Duran Duran's new single "Falling Down," featuring and produced by Justin Timberlake, is available as of today from the U.S. iTunes store. The press release for DD's forthcoming Red Carpet Massacre album is up now on the band's official site, which reveals the writing and production credits for each track.

Kurt Cobain: About A Son, a documentary focusing on the late Nirvana frontman (pictured left), will see its U.S. premiere at the Los Angeles AFI Film Festival in early November. A year before his death in 1994, Cobain was featured in a cover story for The Advocate. Though he often had a penchant for exaggerating and twisting the truth in interviews, he did reveal the following: "I used to pretend I was gay just to fuck with people. I've had the reputation of being a homosexual every since I was 14. It was really cool, because I found a couple of gay friends in Aberdeen [Washington] - which is almost impossible. How I could ever come across a gay person in Aberdeen is amazing! But I had some really good friends that way. I got beat up a lot, of course, because of my association with them."

The New York Post is claiming that Madonna just might embark on a world tour starting late next summer, to coincide with her 50th birthday. This rumor wouldn't be too much of a stretch, given that she'll have no doubt released a new studio album long before that.

Ne-Yo has written songs for some of today's young crop of twentysomething divas: Beyonce, Britney Spears, himself. Below is the classy video for his duet with Rihanna, "Hate That I Love You," in which she flounces about half-naked on a bed and he strolls around town decked out like Cary Grant.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Foo Fighters' Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, produced by Gil Norton, who worked with the band on their 1997 album, The Colour And The Shape.

Songs About Girls, the first solo album from Black Eyed Pea Will.i.am.

Melissa Etheridge's The Awakening, her ninth studio album, and first post-breast cancer.

Sub Pop act Iron And Wine's The Shepherd's Dog.

"Gimme More," Britney Spears' new single. Originally to be released next week , perhaps Jive thought they'd better capitalize on the wave of publicity -- albeit negative -- while they can.

"Tattoo," the first single from American Idol winner Jordin Sparks' upcoming November release.

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Gay Tunes for U

In honor of Pride, music blog Hypeful has put together a parade of mp3s from gay, gay-friendly, and at least a couple sexually ambiguous artists. Enjoy.

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News: Taj Mahal, Thom Filicia, iPhone, Mario Testino

15-year-old girls charged with felony hate crimes for targeting one of their male classmates with homophobic flyers.

Taj Mahal to get facial: "According to the BBC, Indian officials have concluded that a 'deep-cleansing mud pack may be the only way to return a yellowing Taj Mahal to the cultural landmark's former white marble glory.' By 'caking the building in clay,' we read, those same officials can actually 'draw out surface impurities'.

Queer Eye's Thom Filicia to renovate W hotels starting with the W Los Angeles-Westwood.

Paris Hilton gets lighter sentence - should be in the coop for only 23 days, if that: "The L.A. County sheriff's office announced that they recognize her good behavior including showing up at her recent court date. Paris will also serve her 23-days in a special unit. These cells are specifically reserved for high-profile inmates who might otherwise be targeted by fellow prisoners. She will also get an hour a day to make phone calls, watch TV and shower."

Homeless gay youths finding home in specialized shelters: "Many experts estimate that while gay men and lesbians make up 3 percent to 5 percent of the general population, more than 20 percent of homeless youths under age 21 in many urban areas are gay, according to recent surveys of street youths and shelter workers published in peer-reviewed academic journals, and a study released in January by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Coalition for the Homeless."

How the GOP candidates responded to Falwell's death — 5 strong supporters, 3 weak supporters, two made no comment at all.

Bogus tip to tech blog Engadget about delay of iPhone knocked $4 billion off Apple's market capitalization yesterday as the stock dropped from $107.89 to $103.42 in six minutes (11:56 - 12:02). Since then the stock has recovered.

Evandro Soldatti and a "legion of male models" attend Mario Testino's 'honorary citizenship" party in Rio.

In case you were wondering, your prayers have helped Britney Spears.

West Hollywood gay activist Larry Sprenger dies at 65: "In the mid-1980s, Sprenger was co-chairman of the Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles, then one of the nation's most influential gay political groups. He was instrumental in the group's controversial stand in 1985 urging the owners of gay bathhouses to voluntarily shut down their operations because of the baths' possible role in the spread of AIDS."

Amazon to challenge iTunes with DRM-free music download service: "The Amazon service will launch later this year with support from EMI, the third-largest record company, and more than 1,000 smaller labels...David Card, an analyst at Jupiter Research, said Amazon’s clout would increase the pressure on EMI’s competitors to follow suit. 'Getting another big, big player to endorse DRM-free is a big deal.'"

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Hey You: Download New Madonna Single

Madonna's new track, "Hey You", written for the upcoming Live Earth UK concert on July 7, is now available as a free download from MSN. They're donating donate 25 cents for each of the first 1 million downloads to the Alliance for Climate Protection, in support of Live Earth.

The track, produced by Madonna and Pharrell Williams, is available here for free for seven days.

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News: Bikinis, Climate Change, Firouz, Lance Bass

Joe Klein: "A much bigger story is unfolding: the epic collapse of the Bush Administration. The three big Bush stories of 2007--the decision to "surge" in Iraq, the scandalous treatment of wounded veterans at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys for tawdry political reasons--precisely illuminate the three qualities that make this Administration one of the worst in American history: arrogance (the surge), incompetence (Walter Reed) and cynicism (the U.S. Attorneys)...." (via americablog)

Openly gay Persian singer Firouz works out his struggle in "Warchild" and Arjan's got a free download. Firouz: "My story isn't an exception and not only about teenagers in some parts of the world where they die in senseless wars or lose their homes and family. Everybody has their own personal fights. The hardest battle is the one inside of yourself and in your own life...My songs describe moments and express feelings to help people find beauty in even the hardest situations."

Has Lance Bass got a new companion?

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's first budget allocates more money than ever before to gay groups: "It includes a record-setting $8 million for the LGBT Health and Human Services Network of 52 gay support organizations statewide, substantial increases for HIV/AIDS funding, and $375,000 for LGBT domestic violence programming."

Everybody's wearing a bikini these days.

RESEARCHERS: Climate change is not a future event. It is here now. "'Five years ago, we said we could detect a regional impact of climate change,' he continued. 'Now, we have reviewed 29,000 data sets, and 90% of them show that changes happening worldwide are due to climate change.' These changes include early flowering seasons, changes in agricultural productivity and changes in insect migrations, but also the intensity of heat waves and storms. Huq says it is impossible to say with certainty that climate change is the cause of any single hurricane, heat wave, flood or drought. 'But, taken together, the increase in frequency and intensity of such events during the last decade of the 20th century provides strong evidence that climate change is already occurring and is no longer a problem of the future.'"

Designer John Galliano's "right hand man" at Dior, Steven Robinson, found dead in his Paris apartment, presumably of a heart attack. He was just 38.

Museum of Fine Arts Boston receives $2.5 million and 189 works from the estate of the late Herb Ritts.

The Army has suspended Sgt. Marcia Ramode, the recruiter who fired off a series of racist and homophobic emails to a potential recruit who had revealed to her that he was gay: "Douglas Smith, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Recruitment Command at Ft. Knox, Ky., said Ramode has been suspended from recruiting duties until the investigation is complete. Although he couldn't comment on Ramode's actions because of the investigation, Smith said recruiters are expected to behave professionally and that there is a protocol for handling situations when applicants reveal that they are gay. 'If an applicant makes a statement that he or she is homosexual, the recruiter must inform the applicant in a professional manner that they are not eligible for enlistment,' Smith said in a statement."

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EMI and Apple Drop DRM and Offer Premium-Quality Audio

In a move that dramatically shifts the music label's relationship with its consumers, EMI and Apple today announced that forthcoming titles from EMI will be sold without digital rights management (DRM), the anti-piracy lock in place to prevent consumers from easily copying digital music tracks.

The new DRM-free tracks will be offered at a higher price ($1.29 vs. $.99) and will be available alongside the current lower-priced offerings with DRM. In short, consumers will have a choice to buy DRM-free tracks for a small premium. The DRM-free tracks will also be higher sound quality. Current iTunes offerings are 128 kbps. The new tracks will be sold at a much-higher quality 256 kbps.

Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI (pictured here with Damon Albarn of The Good, The Bad, and the Queen, and Steve Jobs), told reporters in a press conference in London this morning that the decision was based on consumer desire for good value, choice, and simplicity. Said Nicoli: "We're committed to embracing change...We're focusing on providing consumers with a truly compelling experience."

Apple's iTunes will be first to offer the new products. It was also announced that consumers will be able to upgrade their current tracks.

Steve Jobs called the move the "next big step forward" for digital music online. EMI is the first of the big four music companies to take the step. Entire catalog available in May on iTunes.

As far as a rumored offering of the Beatles catalog online, which many expected to happen today, Nicoli said: "We're working on it and we hope it's soon."

Check out our In Heavy Rotation picks here...

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Robbie Williams' Latest Bisexual Blurb

Although it was reported last December that singer Robbie Williams had won damages against a writer that suggested he was gay, it seems Williams does a pretty good job of doing that himself.

He recently said: "Living in Los Angeles, I've been on so many dates. I've developed relationships that have been short-lived, for whatever reason. The press have never found out. But I believe there's one person out there for everybody. I hope that she - whoever I choose - is a good 'un. Or he... you never know, you never know."

Today we have a special mix for Towleroad readers of Robbie's latest single "Rudebox".

Rudebox (Soul Mekanik Remix) [megaupload]

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