Radiohead is using the momentum created by giving In Rainbows away for "any" price, and is launching a free concert on New Year's Eve which will be webcast on Current TV and Current.com.

"This is a wee celebration of the release of the physical manifestation of 'in rainbows'," said frontman Thom Yorke on the group's site.

On Tuesday, January 1st, In Rainbows will go on sale in CD format, as well as in digital format at sites like Amazon's MP3 store. Despite reports that Radiohead was "in talks" with iTunes, there are still no signs of In Rainbows (pre-orders, etc.) on Apple's music service at this time.

As for the New Year’s Eve concert, it will air on both television and the Internet, on Radiohead's website, Current TV and Current.com. The hour-long performance will begin airing starting at 12am ET on December 31st, and Current TV will rerun the program another three times throughout the day.

Here's the promotional video below:

Radiohead is paving the way for bands looking at independently promoting their music, but it's not a situation that any ol' unsigned group can pull off. Radiohead has an established fan base that doesn't require the backing of a record label to market to (anymore). But the beauty behind all this is that the Internet is the great equalizer in distribution, and Radiohead is using this to its greatest potential.

[Silicon Alley Insider via Masable]