7th November:

Our local neighbourhood has now recovered from a weekend of fireworks frenzy that, at times, made me think we were actually living in Kabul rather than Cambridge. The odd thing is that some people were still letting off fireworks last night, an act that seems about as rational as opening your Christmas presents on the 26th. Or maybe I'm just missing something.

A couple of months ago the media got terribly excited about Radiohead's plans to release their new album as a digital download and allow fans to pay anything from zero to one hundred Pounds for it. Many publications commented on the decline of traditional CD sales or focused on how the Internet has up-ended the traditional methods of gaining exposure and being successful for musicians and other creative types. Reports that the Daily Mail asked "What is an album? Is that a bit like an LP?" may or may not have been exaggerated. However, any way you cut it, it was interesting stuff. Now, however, the verdict is in. Over two thirds of people who downloaded the album paid nothing for the privilege, and the average price paid amongst the rest was about £2. Which is a bit of a shocker when you consider that the average album on iTunes costs almost £8.

So what is the moral of the tale? Well, Radiohead spent years building up a fanbase the old-fashioned way so could clearly afford the risk of making no money on the album and using the accompanying tour to generate revenue. You might even suggest that the band were happy to use the download strategy as a pure PR exercise and accept any actual sales as a bonus. Either way, it's not a strategy that is likely to work for the up-and-coming artist, and Radiohead have now agreed a deal to distribute physical copies of the album to stores despite suggesting they would not do so, which in itself might be an admission that the exercise has not been a success.

Perhaps more important is the philosophical question of the value we place on the music in our lives. The iPod is undeniably a handy little device, but the ease with which music can now be browsed and accessed has perhaps only served to make it much more of a disposable commodity - just that little bit less 'special' than I feel it should be. Personally, I associate many pieces of music with certain times in my life and feel a strong emotional connection to particular artists and albums. What value can you put on that kind of enjoyment and satisfaction over a lifetime?

Hopefully more than just £2.