A departure from the usual subject matter today, but I promise there is a connection to this space.

Thom Yorke, frontman for Radiohead, the Brit alt-rock music giant, told Believer magazine this week that the group will no longer produce full-length albums. Radiohead previously shook up the music industry by offering its last self-produced CD, “In Rainbows,” for fans to download at whatever price they wanted to pay. “In Rainbows” was available later at the normal fixed price, although still distributed outside the record companies.

OK, where’s the social media connection? Hold on. Radiohead has a huge and devoted following worldwide (Disclosure: Including me) and knew its fans would honor its pay-as-you-download model. Just last week, Yorke and Radiohead sidekick Jonny Greenwood released an anti-war homage to the last surviving British veteran of World War I. Ironically, the veteran died as the recording was being released. Again, sidestepping the music industry, the recording is available for download at Radiohead’s site for one British pound, with the proceeds going to the British Legion (which supports the families of Britain’s vets).

In earlier days Radiohead actually opposed offering individual songs for purchase through iTunes. However, it’s clear the band listened to fans then, and they are listening to their fans today. Rather than making fans wait forever for a full album, Radiohead will offer singles and EPs, undoubtedly providing more music (and more diverse music) in a much shorter time frame. That will be good for everyone. Especially their fans.

I understand this now after a couple hours of teeth-gnashing and actually tweeting that fans should prevail upon the group to change its course. Thom Yorke has a strong understanding of who his fans are and what they want. He also knows the industry has changed, and listeners don’t want to pay full price for CDs which often don’t deliver more than a couple good songs.

I wish the reclusive Yorke and his bandmates would step out of the social media shadows. (They do have their own fan social network through their site.) However, they seem to understand the new relationship economy better than most: Give more than you get. Pay attention to your audience. Be ready to try new things. Be willing to change course in the middle of trying new things.

We’ll see if Radiohead’s model will work. I suspect many others will eventually follow it. Not a bad idea, actually.

(For non-Radiohead fans, “No Surprises” in the headline refers to one of their songs.)