Amanda Palmer covers Radiohead's Creep

Music has a universal language no matter the instrument used.

Radiohead tops the charts again - "In Rainbows" is a Billboard #1

Radiohead made their expected arrival at No. 1 on the new U.K. album chart yesterday (Jan. 6) with "In Rainbows," released in the U.K. and internationally Dec. 31 on XL Recordings.

Radiohead's victory gives them their fifth U.K. No. 1 album, a sequence that began with 1997's "OK Computer" and also includes "Kid A" (2000), "Amnesiac" (2001) and 2003's "Hail to the Thief." A single from the new set, "Jigsaw Falling Into Place," is commercially released in Britain on Jan. 14.

Radiohead New Years Gift

Radiohead brought in the new year by performing their entire album for their fans. What a good vibe for freedom in music distribution and fan connections!

Radiohead makes it official: record labels are dead

The name "record label" tells you how old the model of the music labels is.

Labels never really knew how to identify talent and instead would typically hedge their bets by taking money from a single successful artist and using it to fund a dozen prospective musical groups. One of these twelve could be promoted enough to turn a profit and keep the chain going.

This model doesn't benefit established artists who have formed a large fan base so now the better bands are walking away, increasing their fan base by distributing less expensively, releasing music when they want, and removing the excesses of a useless middle man.