Radiohead's marketing move is a hint of things to come

Radiohead is an English rock band that's been around since 1986. But more important to me, it's a rock band that has just altered the marketing landscape. That's because tomorrow, the band will make its newest album In Rainbows available for whatever price the consumer wants to pay.

That's right, the band is selling its album only on its website and after loading the album into your shopping cart, it is up to you to decide how much you want to pay for it.  If you want it for free, so be it. If you want to pay just a quarter for each song, you can.

Not only is this a bold marketing move, but it's the way more and more pricing is being handled. I even know of a consultant who conducts weekend training sessions and then "passes the hat" and asks participants to pay what they think the session was worth. In my email newsletter Marketing Tips & Tools I cover a variety of pricing strategies, but now I guess I'll need to cover this one.

So what would you do? Pay full boat? Pay nothing?