Radiohead's next album, "In Rainbows", will be released in digital download format next week. That in itself isn't totally new, but here's the twist: the band are letting punters choose how much they pay for it. For people who still like a bit of packaging there's a £40 box set available, with vinyl and CD versions and a bonus disc, AND the downloads,  but nevertheless it's a pioneering move.

There are rumblings in the music press that it's all very well for Radiohead and Prince, who've had years of record company investment to get them to a position where they can release things themselves (even if Prince did choose the Mail on Sunday, in surely one of the most bizarre tie-ins ever). But we can still think of a few albums that we wish had been released on a "pay what it's worth" basis:

• T'Pau -- Bridge of Sighs: a massive hit until everyone came to their senses about a day later. We know from bitter personal experience that London's famous Record and Tape Exchange refused to take this record back.
• Lou Reed, Metal Machine Music: an album consisting entirely of guitar feedback. Was it just Reed's way of ending an unhappy record contract? He says not: "I was serious about it. I was also really, really stoned."
• Sting. Just Sting as a whole, especially in the past decade or so since his accountant nicked several million and he failed to notice.