British Band Radiohead Launched A ‘Public Library’ As Its Online Archive

On Monday, the British band Radiohead announced via Twitter that it is launching a "public library" which would act as its online archive.

The archive that resides on the band's official radiohead.com website, features archival material grouped around each of the band’s nine studio albums, including music videos, live performances, artwork and the group’s quarterly w.a.s.t.e. newsletter series. It also links to the frequently bizarre, nightmarish and labyrinthine previous iterations of their website.

Visitors can also create a downloadable library card, featuring a QR code that takes the holder to the website for data protection initiative GDPR. Visitors can also request out-of-print T-shirt designs from each era of the band’s history to be made.

"Radiohead.com has always been infuriatingly uninformative and unpredictable," the tweet read. " We have now, predictably, made it incredibly informative. We present: the RADIOHEAD PUBLIC LIBRARY."

At the same time, Radiohead is also releasing previously unavailable rarities to streaming services, including their first ever release, 1992’s Drill EP; the 2005 song I Want None of This from charity compilation Help! A Day in the Life; and the 2011 remix release Tkol Rmx 8.

The four-track Drill was just added to the band’s YouTube channel.

Streamable versions of the “office chart” playlists made by the band have also been collated.

Radiohead has expressed mixed feelings about the internet and major streaming services.

However, the band has made many of its catalog available for free in the past - including the pay-what-you-want album In Rainbows. It also released 18 hours of previously unheard OK Computer studio sessions in 2019, following a blackmail threat by a hacker.

Previously, many websites that attempted to collect some content about Radiohead rarely came out well. As a result, the overall effect has been ‘Radiohead‘ search results in yielding random and/or abbreviated shards of songs and album titles that did not have detailed artwork or any additional context. Most of the time, they came in low quality videos preceded by advertisements.

With Radiohead launching the Radiohead Public Library, things should be easier for fans.

Starting January 20 until January 24, 2019. each band member serve as a librarian for the day, curating a personal selection of the archive for visitors.

Radiohead was formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire in 1985.

The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals) and Philip Selway (drums, percussion). They have worked with producer Nigel Godrich and cover artist Stanley Donwood since the year 1994.

After signing to EMI in 1991, Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992, and quickly made it a worldwide hit. In the UK, the band's popularity escalated with the release of their second album, The Bends, in 1995. Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), brought them international fame; noted for its complex production and themes.

As of 2011, the band had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, and has been praised by listeners in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

In 2019, Radiohead has received 22 awards from 79 nominations, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.