Dear Rockers... 29 Nov 2007

For those who can't read it, the letter above says:

Dear Radiohead,

I'm totally a Johnny-come-lately fan. I don't think I heard OK Computer until the 21st century. Anyhow, I've downloaded a couple of your great albums without paying, and I wanted to even the score.

I suppose I could have just paid a lot for In Rainbows, but here's $5 instead. You can spend it the next time you tour to Canada.

Sincerely,

Darren

...If you're scratching your head and wondering what this is all about, then let us enlighten you: This letter is excerpted from Dear Rockers - a new website that seeks to right a well-known wrong.

Many people own music that they didn't pay for, and while most don't feel guilty about shafting record companies and industry bigwigs, they do feel upset about shafting their favourite artists. Dear Rockers "absolves" them of this guilt by asking them to send a letter of apology to the artists enclosing five-dollars-worth of compensation (after scanning the letter and posting it on the Dear Rockers' site, of course).

It's an interesting idea - especially in light of Radiohead's recent choose-your-price stunt - although we're not sure what the recording industry will make of it :-S.