When Radiohead were signed to EMI none of their albums were sold on iTunes allegedly because of Apple’s insistence that all tracks had to be available separately, which would have disrupted the artistic nature of the albums.

Now that Radiohead have the freedom to do what they want, In Rainbows is not only available on iTunes but each track is available separately too.

It’s possible that the ‘artistic’ stance that Radiohead used when with EMI was to limit digital sales – given that the band weren’t getting anything from digital sales, according to their contract which hadn’t anticipated them.

Of course, if you’re signed to a label, rather than doing your own thing, even credit card companies get more income per iTunes sale than you do. Fortunately, Radiohead, like many wised-up artists, are going alone – so they receive the label income and the artist income.