i appoligize for the harsh language…. also i respect your “opinion” but as Thome Yorke said. “I think if you make good music, then people will pay for it.”

For the record, I do have a credit card, but only to pay bills and groceries, and I pay down my balance. I only have it to build credit.

Now, as for the phone number, on second thought, you’re right. They should have made it opt-in. Not very Radiohead to require that (sort of like being not very Smurfy). I do know people who just went to their nearest torrent tracker and obtained the album that way. Sure, I’m curious to see what they send out, but I’m a die-hard. The merely curious will probably find that annoying. However, if I was Yorke & Co. I would put the opt-in before the checkout. You’d still have people’s attention at that point, and if the number wasn’t required, then it would be easy enough to skip.

Oh, and why not just say “Want to get special offers and news from Radiohead? Let us send you a text message.” Yep — explain it and more people will do it.

Thank you so much for your response, and for sharing the info about Merchants Payment Coalition. This is a problem faced by a lot of retailers, and certainly something that helps fuel annoyance-turned-resentment by customers. Keep up the good fight! (I also recommend that anyone interested in credit card strong-arming tactics watch this Frontline documentary, “The Secret History of the Credit Card.”)

Regarding your point about not minding if you get a text message from them every now and then, that’s exactly my point: How do you know what they’re using your information for if they don’t tell you? People will gladly offer up their personal information if they can trust you. A b(r)and like Radiohead has a lot of trust behind it, as fans will pay top dollar to attend one of their concerts. But why should I give them ANY unnecessary info just to get a lousy download? It should be something to opt-in to after checkout. (”Get the cash. Ask questions later.”) That approach isn’t just good for them, it’s good for their customers and/or fans.

Thom York can croon sardonically about wanting “no alarms and no surprises” but it’s pretty accurate. People tend to hate surprises when it comes to how their money is spent or when, where and how they’ll be contacted.

The aspect I find interesting is the credit card fee. If you pay one quid, a third of the price is the fee. Even if you pay ten pounds, you’re still paying nearly 10% of the price to the credit card companies.

This fee is called the interchange fee, and it’s a source of no small frustration to merchants here in the US. Usually you pay for it in the form of higher fees at the register, but in this case it wasn’t hard for Radiohead to parcel it out (easily done with 2 products for sale). Still annoying. I hope people think about it.

It annoyed me enough that I’ve been working for a DC group called Merchants Payments Coalition (website linked behind my name) and In Rainbows might be the best thing to happen to this cause.

But back to your point, what could Radiohead have done better? Offer something like Revolution Money — the interchange-lite new alternative to Visa/MC, which is just getting off the ground. Sure, most people couldn’t use it, but those that could would be glad to. It would save us money, for one thing.