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Thom Yorke Just Released a New Solo Album, ‘Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes,’ Via BitTorrent

Thom Yorke Nigel Godrich 'Tomorrow's Modern Boxes' Torrent Album

UPDATE: Thom Yorke sold 34,900 copies of his album in the first two hours of its release, according to a NME report.

Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich are up to their bizarre tricks again. After posting a mysterious photo of a white vinyl record, the Radiohead frontman is releasing a new solo with help from his frequent collaborator called Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, and they’ve outdone themselves in the non-traditional distribution department. This time, they’re putting it out via a new version of BitTorrent that comes with a pay gate attached to the file. “It’s an experiment to see if the mechanics of the system are something that the general public can get its head around,” they said in a statement announcing the LP. If you’re still a bit fuzzy on the whole thing, don’t worry — you’re not alone. Read the full statement below, and purchase the album via BitTorrent now.

A MESSAGE FROM THOM YORKE AND NIGEL GODRICH 

As an experiment we are using a new version of BitTorrent to distribute a new Thom Yorke record.

The new Torrent files have a pay gate to access a bundle of files..

The files can be anything, but in this case is an ‘album’.

It’s an experiment to see if the mechanics of the system are something that the general public can get its head around …

If it works well it could be an effective way of handing some control of internet commerce back to people who are creating the work.

Enabling those people who make either music, video or any other kind of digital content to sell it themselves.

Bypassing the self elected gate-keepers.

If it works anyone can do this exactly as we have done.

The torrent mechanism does not require any server uploading or hosting costs or ‘cloud’ malarkey.

It’s a self-contained embeddable shop front…

The network not only carries the traffic, it also hosts the file. The file is in the network.

Oh yes and it’s called

Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes.

 

Thom Yorke & Nigel Godrich