Depending on your musical taste, you may or may not have listened to the band Radiohead. In their Wikipedia entry, the band is referred to as "the "English version of Nirvana". Both bands make/made songs with quiet and beautiful moments and also loud guitar distortion."
A few weeks ago Radiohead released their latest album titled "In Rainbows", selling it as a download without digital-rights management (translated - no copy protection). The band is asking for fans to establish the value of the music on the album and determine how much they want to pay for the music, if anything at all. It's available free.
Radiohead has joined a list of artists moving away from traditional distribution methods. According to the New York Times:
Here's more from the New York Times piece:
and a bit more:
The band currently is not contracted with a recording company and has not sold content on iTunes. According the the Times - early next year they say the will release a CD, two record vinyl (!) set and photo book that will sell for approximately 40 pounds (about $82).
Watch the Radiohead website and legally download the music here.