My friend Ken strongly recommended I check out Paste, a magazine about indie/alternative/lesser-known music/movies/stuff.  I did, and while it’s not the greatest-magazine-ever-or-anything, it’s still pretty good.  I always find new artists … and the free CD of music with each issue is always interesting.

In line with the Radiohead release, Paste is letting people name-your-own-price for a year subscription to the magazine.  It normally costs $19.99, but you can get it for as little as $1 (no free option available).

Check it out here.

I downloaded Radiohead’s In Rainbows the day it came out.  I didn’t pay anything for it then, instead deciding that I’d listen to it first and pay what I felt it was worth later.  After the initial listen, I was thoroughly underwhelmed and happy that I hadn’t paid anything.

Now that I’ve given it a second/third/fourth shot (my roommate’s recommendation and the WSJ’s glowing review convinced me to try again), the album’s growing on me.  It’s pretty good music to work to.

I haven’t quite decided how much to pay … but I was thinking that it’d be cool if I could buy a t-shirt from Radiohead that said (in a plain font) “I didn’t pay for In Rainbows but I bought this tshirt to support Radiohead”.  I’d pay $20 for that.

I could elaborate about why I’d rather pay for a physical good/service (tshirt, concert) rather than a near-zero-cost-to-reproduce digital good … and I could talk more about why paying for digital goods is obviously necessary … and why in some cases I don’t mind and in some I do … and how such a tshirt might not fit with Radiohead’s true aim … and why some fans might not like it … but whatever.  I think the shirt would be fun.