Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:
Thom York to sell new solo album on BitTorrent: Radiohead has long been known for pushing the envelope, and frontman Thom Yorke has continued that trend with the sale of his new solo album. He’s selling “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes” on, of all platforms, BitTorrent. A mere $6 gets you the first ever pay-gated torrent in history, according to the press release from BitTorrent. “If it works well, it could be an effective way of handing some control of internet commerce back to the people who are creating the work … enabling those people who make either music, video or any other kind of digital content to sell it themselves,” Yorke said. [BitTorrent Bundle]
Neil Young’s next album goes hi-fi: Neil Young has made himself known as a proponent of hi-fidelity music quality as head of Pono Music. He also announced that his upcoming album “Storeytone” will be hi-fi. No word yet about whether the album will have some tie-in to his gigantic crowdfunded project, but that seems like a distinct possibility. [Spin]
Social media success for iHeartRadio Fest: The iHeartRadio Music Festival generated more than 5 billion social media impressions, according to the online music service. Considering the radio service has about 50 million registered users, that’s an impressive spread of social awareness. Concerts are a great way for streaming platforms to promote themselves, and coupling the event with a strong social campaign can further that cause. [Radio World]