This past Wednesday morning, you may not have noticed it, but the way we listen to music changed.

On the very early wee hours of Wednesday (or about 10am in England), Radiohead delivered on their promise of a digital release of In Rainbows, their seventh album.

While not the first band to forgo the typical release formatting (that, I believe, goes to former one-hit wonders Harvey Danger, whom you may remember from the song “Flagpole Sitta”, a song I’ve been known to rock on karaoke…), Radiohead is certainly one of the bigger artists to do so. Since their break in the mid-90’s, they’ve been on the cutting edge of the music world, constantly innovating and inspiring fellow artists with classic albums such as The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A. Some would argue the british based band is the closest this generation has to a Pink Floyd, or The Beatles.

In any case, they’re a band I’ve followed fervently since my teenage years, and knowing they were taking such a huge risk had me very, very excited.

Granted, the band themselves downplays the move..guitarist Jonny Greenwood (who moonlights as a score writer for the BBC, go figure) was quoted as saying: “People are making a big thing about it being against the industry or trying to change things for people but it’s really not what motivated us to do it. It’s more about feeling like it was right for us and feeling bored of what we were doing before.”

Well, I hate to say it, Jonny…but 1.2 million albums ’sold’ in one day, with other artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Madonna, Oasis and Jamiriquai following in your footsteps, I say you guys have set forward the gears of revolution.

But lets be honest…none of this matters if it’s not any good. Does In Rainbows live up to the hype?

Pretty damn great. I’d be so bold as to place it on the same level of the classics of their discography. But there’s something really wonderful in the music. It’s an album created by a band in their prime…personally, musically, hell, business-wise. There’s nary a moment of pretense, it all feels truly natural. From the upbeat opener “15 Step” (yes, FROM RADIOHEAD, UPBEAT), with it’s infectious drumbeat, and to die for guitar licks; to the Beatles-with-an-orchestra-esq “Faust Arp”; to the blow away last minute of “All I Need”; this is a work to last a lifetime. If the internet music revolution is going to have a soundtrack, this is a hell of a start.

I’d wager since I downloaded the album bleary-eyed at 5am Wednesday morning, to the typing of this post, I’ve listened to it damn near 20 times…and it just gets better. I cannot recommend it enough, especially when you can set your own price. The album is available for download now. (At the time of this writing, though, their servers are understandably crying for help.)

Ok, so it’s a damn fine record…and people are going bananas for it.

But what does it all mean? That’s a giant rant to itself, which to save your eyeballs, I’ve left after the break.

Some people may call me crazy, but I think this rapidly growing trend represents the future of the arts trade as a whole.

When Radiohead announced the payment plan for In Rainbows, I was immediately reminded of how we in the webcomics world make our money. We put it out there for free, and offer you, the audience, the ability to donate what you feel we’re worth, or purchase physical goods to help us continue to create the art we enjoy.

As the internet has grown, it seems we have more and more outlets for our work. You can share your art online through various means, showcase your photography skills on Flickr, share your music on PureVolume and MySpace, and then tell everyone all about it (or the other art you love) on your blog.

And some of us make a living on it. Others of us make a DAMN good living on it. And there are those of us who make a nice nest egg while we toil away at our dayjobs.

Get ready world, this is the direction ALL art is going. I call it the digital renaissance. One of the things that era is best known for (and of course, the nomenclature ‘renaissance man’ comes from) is the infusion of art into the world…and ultimately, our daily lives. It wasn’t unheard of for your blacksmith to be able to sing a beautiful song, and in this day and age, that guy in the cubicle next to you could be producing the best electroklash album of this year in his basement.

Where does it lead? I forsee the continued growth of this era of art, to where far more people can say they live off their art. The growth of YouTube and the Internet has changed the idea of a celebrity from a group of dozens to quite literally hundreds, and I honestly believe we’ll soon be saying the same about art and music.

Long gone will be the days of the artists making millions of dollars, living in their ‘phat crib’, while their label cashes in big…we’ll be in the era of great bands, making livable wages (thousands, NOT millions), touring a few times a year…not because they have to, but because they want to.

The internet has granted us an amazing ability to share who we are and what it is we do with millions of others, instantly. And it’s now rewriting the rules completely.

Strap in, people. This is just the beginning. And I couldn’t be more excited.