So next week the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows, is released. In a move sure to strike fear into the hearts of the record companies the album is available for download from radiohead.com for a price of… your choosing.

Once available you decide how much you think it’s worth, (minimum of 1p), pay your money, and download the album. I’m a big Radiohead fan so I’ll definitely be buying, but the question is how much is it worth to me?

Unfortunately there’s been no announcements regarding format and this is going to pay a big part in my decision. So, this is what I’m thinking, assuming a 12-track album.

Format Price Comments
Non-mp3/non-AAC $0 Useless to me!
AAC 128-bit $5 Better, but still limits my playback
MP3 128-bit $8 Much better, quality is lacking tho
MP3 192-VBR or 256-CBR $10 Now we’re talking.
As above, w’ ID3 Tags $12 Great!
As above, w’ album art embedded $14 Best!

Yeah I know, it’s silly to pay $4 when I could easily do the tagging and album art myself in a few minutes. But here’s the thing. I like Radiohead a lot and if they do the right thing (mp3/good quality/tags) I’m happy to reward them for it. I hope they have a lot of success with this venture because not only are they taking a huge risk but it’s one that has the potential to really shake up the music industry and benefit both the consumers and bands themselves.

Radiohead, please please don’t screw this up by releasing some low-quality tripe in a weird format!

Thanks!