Did you get caught up in the hype of a new Radiohead album and neglect to notice it was 37 minutes long? I did. It’s basically an EP. Of course, I don’t care at all.

This Billboard article about the business side of Radiohead’s King of Limbs release is a must-read:

If you want Radiohead’s “The King of Limbs” you’ll have to legally or illegally download it. None of the subscription services, from Spotify to MOG, will have the album until its commercial release on March 29.

This is a hint of things to come. Over time more artists will decide to self-release music in this fashion, thus creating long, staggered release windows that place serious fans first and more casual fans further back in line. Traditional retail must wait in line, too. That means service companies that provide the tools and expertise for the online self-release of albums will benefit from this self-release strategy while the second wave of consumers are left to retailers.

Beating The Pirates
– Did you notice that “The King of Limbs” — as well as its predecessor “In Rainbows” — did not suffer from pre-release leaks? The traditional marketing and promotional effort for a label release is inherently leaky. Promotional and advance copies are everywhere.

Self-released Radiohead albums, on the other hand, are not heard before they are legally downloaded by the first eager fans. In fact, word of the February 14th pre-order didn’t even leak. That’s golden for an artist who wants to stick to a release strategy. Turns out the best way to stop leaks is to leave your record label.

Interesting, too, that “King of Limbs” went out a day ahead of its originally-announced release dates keeping fans, press and especially pirates on their heels.

Social Media Surge
– With Radiohead’s latest announcement and album release, the band got Grammy-like social media buzz comparable to Lady Gaga or Arcade Fire. Their social activity surged after they announced “The King of Limbs”‘s Feb. 14 pre-release.

Its total number of social media followers rose 105% in the week ending Feb. 19, according to Next Big Sound. The band’s weekly Facebook friend additions rose 55%, new Twitter followers rose 643%, new YouTube channel subscribers jumped 1,242% (helped by the concurrent release of a video) and new MySpace friends rose 34%. In all, the band added 125,000 fans (compared to 56,000 the previous week).

Radiohead’s social media gains were comparable to those of Lady Gaga and Arcade Fire in the week after their Grammys appearances. In the week ending Feb. 19, Lady Gaga’s new social media followers jumped 42% while Arcade Fire’s jumped 299%.

It goes on to ask, “Would people have pre-ordered the album if they knew it had just eight songs?,” and I think that’s a good question. I’ll say I was surprised.

Frankly, I spent $53 dollars in blind trust to get the album and two vinyl records fully expecting a large amount of material. But in reality, King of Limbs is more like a long EP running 37 minutes.

Of course, I would have bought the vinyl even knowing that at the time. I like the vinyl.

I bought Hail to the Thief on 45′s when it first came out, and if they had made In Rainbows easy to buy on vinyl, I would have purchased that format, as well. For those of you keeping score at home:

1. Hail to the Thief: 56 minutes
2. In Rainbows: 42 minutes
3. King of Limbs: 37 minutes

At this rate, the next Radiohead album will certainly be a maxi-single.