Thom Yorke To Distribute Album Through BitTorrent

Thom Yorke is making an end run around “the self elected gate-keepers” and putting out a new solo album using BitTorrent instead of traditional distribution methods.

The Radiohead singer and his producer Nigel Godrich issued a letter through their publicist Friday announcing Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes. The $6 download includes eight songs and a video.

Yorke and Godrich hope to create a new model for artists to control their own music or other digital content: “If it works anyone can do this exactly as we have done.”

Photo: AP Photo
Optimus Alive! Festival, Passeio Maritimo De Alges, Lisbon, Portugal

Unusual distribution methods are nothing new for Yorke. Radiohead released 2007’s In Rainbows as a pay-what-you-want download in 2007 and also distributed their 2010 album The King of Limbs as a direct download to fans before selling a physical edition.