Radiohead, Prince Snubbed By Brit Awards November 30, 2007 -- The big boys are discovering what the rest of us have known all along. It doesn't matter how many physical CDs you distribute, or how many people download your newest album -- if your music is not distributed by the gatekeepers, your content is not even worthy of consideration. It doesn't count. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Eagles sold 700,000 copies of their newest release, but was ineligible for the Billboard charts until a last-minute rule change was made to include Wal-Mart sales. This was particularly fascinating if you realize that Wal-Mart and BestBuy probably sell half of the physical CDs in the country. Until the rule change, any artist using one of them exclusively for distribution simply was not counted. Step outside the machine and suddenly you're not there. Today's example is found at the BBC, which reports: Radiohead and Prince will both miss out on Brit Award nominations next year due to eligibility rules. Artists must have had a top 75 UK single or album during the past 16 months before they can be considered. Radiohead's album, In Rainbows, was only released for download on the band's website, which does not report sales to chart compilers. Prince's Planet Earth was given away free in a newspaper. Chart rules stated it was ineligible for inclusion. In other circumstances, Radiohead would have been in the running for the best British group and best British album. A spokesman for the group said they had not expected to be included in the nominations. The industry's new posture is that everything was a big misunderstanding; they're just not very smart. If you're a musician, you have to question this because the RIAA (or whatever the acronym is in your country) has really been pretty thorough about putting up roadblocks everywhere to either keep you out or discount your existence. Because they can't compete with free. And we don't have to compete with them at all. Music is not a competition, just the business part.