It may not seem strange for a Radiohead album to reach Number 1 on the Billboard charts. However, the band’s decision to originally post their recent album ‘In Rainbows’ on the internet with a “pay as much as you like” price tag seemed a likely exception to their success on the sales charts. Nevertheless, with the official CD/LP release on the first week of January, the album topped the Billboard charts with 122,000 units sold.

The experimental decision by the band marked a new chapter in how music is accessed via cyberspace. No official figure has been released on how many people downloaded the album but the estimated number is 1.2 million.

The success of ‘In Rainbows’ sales is an interesting phenomenon not only because of the free to download option. The music industry has suffered a rapid decline in sales over the last 6 years which has caused record stores to close their doors as bands and record labels look for new alternative ways to sell and distribute music.

In late 2006, legendary Tower Records announced that is was folding and the recent closing of staple and almost landmark-esque Virgin Megastore on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles this month is just another drastic testament to the increased decline in music sales.

Leave it up to Radiohead to practically give an album out for free and still be able to reach Number 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts in deteriorating music industry and a slowing American economy.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that despite the album’s success, the album has drastically undersold their previous album “Hail to the Thief” which was 3rd on the Billboard charts with 300,000 units sold in 2003.