Thom Yorke calls music industry a “sinking ship” that will collapse within “months”

In a recent interview, Radiohead singer/songwriter Thom Yorke said:

It will be only a matter of time – months rather than years – before the music business establishment completely folds… [It will be] no great loss to the world.

He also urges upstart artists to avoid climbing on the “sinking ship” by signing traditional record deals.

As I’m sure you all remember, Radiohead made quite a splash in 2007 when they split with their label, EMI, and released the fantastic In Rainbows album on their own. Consumers were asked only to pay what they thought the album was worth, anywhere from zero dollars to the reported $5000 Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor paid.

As much as I’d like to agree with Thom Yorke here, I think “months” is far too ambitious. As I’ve explained before, there’s no doubt that the music industry’s business model is fundamentally broken, but in today’s economy that hardly means they’re in any real danger. Rather than getting with the times, they’ve lobbied governments and gotten rules changed in their favor — and, unfortunately, their strategy seems to be half-working. Big labels are still around, despite being at best unneeded and at worst harmful to artists and listeners alike.

So, alas, while I wish this were true, I very much doubt it is.

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