Thom Yorke dismisses net-only album paradigm

Idea 'stark raving mad', says Radiohead frontman

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has described the idea of releasing the band's In Rainbows exclusively on the net as "stark raving mad", and insists that fans want a tangible "object" - a reference to Monday's physical release of the album.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We didn't want it to be a big announcement about 'everything's over except the internet, the internet's the future', 'cause that's utter rubbish. And it's really important to have an artefact as well, as they call it, an object."

In Rainbows, the band's independently-produced seventh studio album, was made available online back in October with fans able to snap it up at a price of their choosing. Yorke said of the initiative: "We have a moral justification in what we did in the sense that the majors and the big infrastructure of the music business has not addressed the way artists communicate directly with their fans. In fact, they seem to basically get in the way. Not only do they get in the way, but they take all the cash."

Yorke dismissed reports that the album In Rainbows attracted 1.2 million downloaders in its first week online, but declined to give a firm figure. He said: "It's total nonsense. Thanks very much - we're the only people who know, and it feels wrong to say exactly what happened. But it's been a really nice surprise and we've done really well out of it." ®