Today, Radiohead released their much-anticipated seventh album, In Rainbows. As has been reported everywhere, they are selling it directly to listeners via web download and you, the purchaser, get to choose how much you pay for it (even if you want to pay nothing – I paid £5). What music label would allow such a thing? None. Radiohead doesn’t have a label. Prince, who’s also had his issues with record labels, took a similarly revolutionary path recently when he gave away for free millions of his latest CD in the UK and then proceeded to sell out 21 dates in London. Trent Reznor announced two days ago that Nine Inch Nails is free from a record label obligation and is looking for a “direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate”.

Apple and Amazon selling DRM-free music while huge acts like Radiohead, Prince, and Nine Inch Nails sell unencumbered tracks directly to the public? The Media Sphincter (that clenching muscle of media companies who continue to restrict media from being freely created and sold to audiences who crave more and more of it, even in the face of epic changes that will eventually remake their business model whether they like it or not) is beginning to fail. Watch out below.

In the spirit of wikipedia where people from all over the world contribute to a product (i.e. an encyclodpedia), crowdsourcing has emerged where organizations outsource the need to solve a problem to the public. Are you working on the next product or service that will change the world but can’t get past the last formula or technical approach? Check out Innocentive.

At Innocentive, companies (who can choose to remain anonymous) post their challenges and anyone from around the world can submit answers. The people who provide potential answers, even though they are registered users, remain completely anonymous.

Solutions are evaluated on the merit of their idea. The submitter’s previous work, current research, educational background, recent published papers (or lack thereof) do not play a factor in winning as the answers are provided anonymously. It’s the democratization of innovation.

Chosen solutions may be offered monetary prizes, formal recognition and of course, bragging rights.

My current weekend project to solve:  Dual Use – Off Grid – Illumination Device.

Source: NPR

No drop-shadows, no reflections, no cute button, no trendy colors, not even any gradients! The designers of the new CNN.com eschewed every trendy tool designers are using today. I have to say I was a little put off. How dare they not show-off their photoshop wizardry! I came around, however. What a novel approach, use type, good layouts, clean lines, and simple color scheme to give it a modernist look. I applaud the design team for going back to the basics, and creating something fresh and innovative.

ADDENDUM: They now have a huge banner ad at the top of the site that pushes the most important content below the fold on my Macbook (1440×900px). What a great way to trash a design.

Has to, has to, has to be a joke.

3D Mailbox

indexed: my favorite website for the next fifteen minutes.

Microsoft’s new Silverlight is getting some high-profile buzz, despite the fact that it’s from Microsoft. Apparently, there’s still some talent in the old girl. I’m thrilled that MS is embracing all the web’s users with Silverlight, not just the ones who haven’t jumped the IE ship yet. I’m also looking forward to this lighting a fire under Adobe’s Flash. While I’m not all that jazzed about using a new plug-in without critical mass market share, this’ll still be fun to watch.

(And yes, Mark beat me to the punch on this by two whole weeks.)

Via TechCrunch here and here.

AOL is showing their new “AOL 3.0″ homepage. It’s a nearly perfect clone of Yahoo’s homepage. Sad. Really sad.

Via TechCrunch, as is the image.

These new animated BP ads are awesome. Fresh, engaging, different. Plus, they crack my kid up every time they come on.

• Lighthouse (my favorite)
• Fuels
• Babies (outtakes, even)

Too bad the site they send you to is so mundane. After the visual feast of the ads themselves, the site seems like an afterthought.

Turns out Google also bought Performics when they gobbled-up DoubleClick. I’ve been aware of Performics from way back as an affiliate marketer, but didn’t know they’re also “one of the largest search marketing firms in the business”. Sets up an interesting situation where Google, the biggest and most popular search engine, is also now in the business of helping firms navigate the ever-changing seas of SEO/M and gain higher rank on…itself.

Since Google “[has] no plans to dispose of it at this time” it should be very interesting to see what becomes of Performics.