"Record Companies are the DEVIL!!!"

The King of Limbs (2011) - The sounds of a new decade

Like thousands of other people around the world at roughly the same time, I sat down at my computer in the early hours of Saturday February 19th and commenced downloading my very own pre-ordered "copy" of Radiohead's latest offering, The King of Limbs, unable to keep my left eyelid from twitching with excitement.

For those in the know, the release of a new Radiohead album is a major event, and yet again they have delivered: a post-rock masterwork of complex beauty that had my ears doing the Lindy Hop as each digitally-encoded bit coursed through my headset. Bliss indeed.
But the events surrounding the release of the album, and the way it was released, have been the big talking point in the music industry this week....

Jethro Tull's Thick As A Brick (1972)

It all started last Monday week - 14th February, Valentine's Day - with a post on Radiohead's website (plus Facebook & Twitter) saying simply "Thanks for waiting", with a link to a website advising of the new album and a registration page for pre-orders. The biggest surprise however was the fact that the album was to be released only 5 days later in mp3 or WAV format (at a price of 6 or 9 pounds respectively) - followed by a special "newspaper" format with vinyl, CD and artwork packed in an "oxo-degradable plastic package" to be released in early March.

I overlooked the website's statement that this was to be the "World's first Newspaper Album" (as Jethro Tull beat them to the punch with Thick As A Brick way back in 1972) but, petty facts aside, I quickly realized that stumbling across this news was to be the only example of me "getting lucky" this Valentine's Day (that's right folks).

The news of the release literally came out of the blue. Normally there is a media release accompanied by full page adverts in the music press when one of the world's biggest bands is about to unleash a new album. So what gives? Well, the answer lies in the fact that Radiohead are no longer bound to a major record deal - and thus no contract exists for them to do ....anything.  The band gave their old record label EMI the flick after completing their 6 record contact in 2003, declaring the record company structure a "decaying business model" and set about independently releasing their music in a variety of formats. The final straw between Radiohead & EMI reportedly came when the record company was deducting "packaging costs" from royalties of online digital downloads - a medium which obviously has no physical packaging overheads.
Radiohead's last studio album, In Rainbows, was released in 2007 online via a "pay what you think its worth" honour system. As an experiment it generated a lot of media attention however no one other than the band really knows how much money they made from the exercise, mainly because it wasn't anyone else's business: there were no greedy record execs to fatten-up, nor any anxious shareholders to report to.
So here we are over 3 years later with the next installment - and the only bit of promotion accompanying the release of The King Of Limbs is a stylish black & white video released on the band's website of the first single "Lotus Flower", featuring some awkward dance moves from lead singer Thom Yorke that make Napoleon Dynamite look like the undisputed Michael Jackson of his generation:

It's no secret that the world has changed when it comes to making and distributing music these days, with sites such as MySpace, YouTube and Facebook making it easy to get one's world-changing masterpiece out to the masses at the push of a button - all from the comfort of one's own home. And some of the popular names in music are opting for free-agency, away from the rules & regulations of the big bad record companies.

NIN: The Slip (2008): Given away for free

An example is the outspoken Trent Reznor from industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails - who gave away their 2008 album The Slip as a free download on the band's website.
Reznor had been signed to Interscope Records and was publicly critical of the parent company, Universal Music Group - specifically with their pricing & distribution plans for the Nine Inch Nails 2007 album Year Zero. He claimed they were ripping off music fans (charging "absurd" prices for copies of the album) and encouraged punters at Nine Inch Nails concerts to "steal as much music as you can" - comments which received a lot of media attention and drew criticism from within some factions of the music industry.
As CD sales across the industry continue to plummet year after year, more and more musicians and music fans are exploring the options available to them in the digital world, while the record companies scratch away furiously in the background - desperately trying not to look like rodents going down with the proverbial sinking ship. It's not that relations between artists and record companies were always historically harmonious before the advent of the digital age: its just that there are more options available to make and distribute music these days. Back in the good old days, artists & bands really had to get creative to give the record company "the big middle finger".

Trans (1982): Cheesier than a Quarter Pounder

Perhaps my favourite example of the "artist vs. label" battle comes in the form of Neil Young and his tenure in the early 80's signed to Geffen Records. After becoming a popular million-selling folk/country-rock artist in the 1970's, Neil Young signed a contract with label boss David Geffen in 1982 that would guarantee him a minimum $1million for each album, plus "total creative control over his output". Neil then promptly pulled a creative u-turn and dropped Trans on unsuspecting fans later that year- an album of primitive early 80's electronica, complete with synthesizers and electronic-treated vocals (via a vocoder, an instrument more used to appearing on Kraftwerk albums). The album was a critical & commercial failure and it left many long-time fans scratching their heads in disbelief. David Geffen was reportedly furious with this change in direction and demanded that Neil record a "rock & roll album" next, in an attempt to get back to his winning form in the 70's.

Everybody's Rockin' (1983): Except David Geffen, apparently

Now here's the golden part: Neil responded to this challenge by forming a rockabilly band named 'Neil and The Shocking Pinks" and recorded Everybody's Rockin' in 1983 - an album of 50's rock & rockabilly-styled original songs and cover versions, with snappy titles such as "Mary Lou's Got A New Pair Of Shoes" and "Kinda Fonda Wanda". When Geffen found out what was happening he was livid and canceled the sessions mid-way through before Neil could finish it. It was eventually released as it was, and the final album had a grand running time of 25 minutes - the shortest in Neil's career.
David Geffen proceeded to file a lawsuit against Neil Young worth $3.3 million on the grounds that the two albums he produced for the label contained "music uncharacteristic of his previous recordings", and that this new music was "uncommercial". So Neil filed a $21 million counter-suit citing breach of a contract that promised him total artistic freedom. The matter was eventually settled and Geffen apologized, but at the time all this was happening, a young band named REM were just about to sign with Geffen. They heard about the suit filed against Neil Young, decided amongst themselves that it was not cool, and then promptly signed with Warner Bros instead - going on to be one of the biggest band of the 1980's & 90's.
This stuff sounds made up, right? At the end of the day it was a moral victory to Neil Young, despite having two mildly embarrassing albums attached to his legacy.  Regardless, I encourage you all to check them both out - they are two of my all-time favourite "bad" albums - and to this day nothing gets a party started quite like "Mary Lou's Got A New Pair Of Shoes".

The Sex Pistols: Slightly provocative

Another example is 70's punk band the Sex Pistols, and their relationship with any record company that would dare go near them. After signing a contract with EMI in October 1976 they were ditched by the label less than 3 months later after the uproar the band caused after swearing on live TV. They eventually signed a new contract with label A&M outside Buckingham Palace on March 10th 1977, as a press stunt. The band and their entourage then went back to the A&M offices, got loud, drunk violent and verbally abusive to staff - as you do when you're a young up & coming punk band - forcing the label to dump them 6 days later. The band then moved on to Virgin Records, their third record label in just over 8 months.

The common thread across all the stories listed above is the fact that the "Record Company", as an entity, seems to stand in the way of all the good things that come with being an artist, or in a successful band. Record Companies are fraudulent, dinosaur entities that dictate terms to their clients and try to have a say in the type of music produced by their artists, in order to maximize profits. And to top it all off, they have the audacity to object when one of their top money-makers decides they want to get sh*t-faced and trash their offices and abuse their staff!

Kudos to you then, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, for showing that there is a better way - by getting creative and trying out different methods to get your music across to the largest audience possible. Sure, there will be some failures amongst the successes, but I think its kind of exciting to contemplate what will happen in the industry over the next 10 years, if the last 10 years are any measure.

So come on Guy Sebastian - take a stand against your record company and do something different: give us that free online download-only cover version of the Ramones' classic "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue". You know we want it.