Thom Yorke: CDs kept the music industry alive like a zombie

[Carolyne Mas]

Thom Yorke: CDs kept the music industry alive like a zombie
The Radiohead frontman has described his hatred of the CD format, saying that online distribution has placed more emphasis on songs
Dan Martin
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 August 2009 12.49 BST

Radiohead's Thom Yorke ... 'I always hated CDs. They were a nightmare'. Photograph: Jim Dyson/Getty

Radiohead's Thom Yorke has commented about changes in music consumption the day after the download-only release of Harry Patch (In Memory of).

In an interview with Believer magazine, Yorke spoke about "hating" CDs, a view that supports the download-only single and initial online release of In Rainbows. Yorke goes on to say that the CD format kept the old music industry alive like a zombie.

He told Believer magazine: "Me and Stanley (Donwood, the designer) always hated CDs. Just a fucking nightmare. There's a process of natural selection going on right now. The music business was waiting to die in its current form about 20 years ago. But then, hallelujah, the CD turned up and kept it going for a bit. But basically, it was dead."

With plans for more releases like the Harry Patch song, Yorke further espoused the theory that online distribution has brought music back to a 50s song-based form. He said: "If you forget about the money issue for just a minute – if it's possible to do that, because it's people's livelihoods we're talking about – and you look at it in terms of the most amazing broadcasting network ever built, then it's completely different."

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