Also, wouldn’t it have similar infrastructure challenges as a pay-as-you-go system? (Or, is the global license fee a “one price fits all” mechanism, at which point it’s socialized entertainment spending?)

I would think that “simple” upgrades to current music playing software would effectively do the trick. Integration with a service like Gracenote could also help identify and tie music of varying formats and sources back to the appropriate content provider.

Of course, I would want to see that artists are getting a fair share, too – since we’re dreaming here. (This would encourage consumer adoption, actually.)

Although the idea of a pay-as-you go system sounds appealing; it would most likely be fairly difficult to implement. You would need the support of a platform like iTunes to be able to track and deduct from an account (so as to reduce transaction costs). I agree though that a system that fairly compensates artists for songs you “like” and is legal makes logical sense. The question is which models can be easily rolled out, and make economic sense?

What about a global license fee?

It’d be successfully monetized by standardizing a method for tracking listens, not restricting where it can play.

This way I can try music out, and if I like it (who doesn’t come back to music they like with some frequency?), people make money.

Also, this move will raise questions about the seeming slap in the face to record stores. At first, I really thought that indie stores will be super pissed and burn Radiohead records in the streets. Well, not so fast. If you stop and think about it, this entire packaging scheme actually drives the value through the roof because Radiohead fans will absolutely go to stores to purchase this uber-cd release. I hope indie record stores take a deep breath before they start smashing Radiohead records in the aisles. With an actual product of value and uniqueness, Radiohead may actually have an incredibly positive impact on driving traffic to record stores. Everything just changed. In the not so distant future, just putting an album out on CD in a jewel case will no longer be enough. Could the box set be the future of physical products?

The last bit is the utter disregard of lead time in press. They are totally avoiding leaks by putting this out all at once. When I first started thinking about this, my immediate concern was that, with no press time, who the hell is going to write about it and review it? It was at this point that I logged into my RSS feed reader to see if anyone was writing about it. Every music blog in the world had a bit about it. It is a music press coup unlike anything the world has ever seen. Most notable and interesting of all, Billboard didn’t have a post up about it when I first logged in. Only music blogs. Fans of music. Mainstream press, the folks the industry as a whole is aiming to please is now on the backside playing catch-up.