Paradigm shifts can be so confusing. So Radiohead's "In Rainbows" album is now available in stores and online at iTunes and Amazon.com, after being available on the pay-what-you-want download system months ago and in super-cool boxset form last month. Excellent.
Now here's the weird thing. "In Rainbows" is now the No. 1 download at Amazon, where it sells for 89 cents a track, and is No. 51 on iTunes, where it sells for 99 cents a track. Why the big difference? Sure, iTunes has a far bigger market share than Amazon, but that really shouldn't change the relative percentages of purchases that much -- just the number of units sold.
Are iTunes users so much more tech-savvy than the Amazons that they already downloaded their Radiohead and don't need to buy it? Are Amazon's readers a better fit for Radiohead marketing? Are Radiohead fans flocking to Amazon to save the extra dime a song?
No one knows. Radiohead has been great at creating new questions with the release of "In Rainbows," but offers few answers. One thing is certain, though, Thom Yorke has no problem beefing with former label EMI, saying there was no request for $10 million to re-up with the label and saying on the band's blog that the label acts like "confused bulls in a china shop."
Regardless, "In Rainbows" seems a shoo-in to debut at No. 1 in England, according to Billboard.com.