Radiohead, who made big, big news last year by releasing an album all by their lonesome, at whatever price you wanted to pay, just released a best of album for a mere $20 on iTunes. Wait, did I just say Radiohead released it? I actually meant EMI, Radiohead’s former label that owns the rights to the songs and can release them in whatever fashion they want without ever seeking permission from the band. Could EMI’s reason for the release be because they just love the band so, so much? Or is it because Radiohead is in the middle of a wildly successful tour and this is the chance for the label to make a few more bucks by Frankensteining some songs together to create a “new” album from a band who dropped them? Another question: When capitalism meets ethics, which one usually wins?
