When the history of the early 21st century is written, I'm afraid Radiohead will be included for pioneering a new business model rather than their groundbreaking music. Last year's digital-first release of In Rainbows allowed users to pay whatever they wanted for the download. Now there's an entire Web site devoted to pay-what-you-like: Aralie.com. It's a no-risk way for listeners to discover new music from independent bands.
It's also a no risk-way for independent musicians to get some exposure: it costs nothing to upload a song, there's no contract involved so you can sell your songs through other stores and remove them at any time, and the artist keeps 85% of all sales revenue. Aralie also offers an application that artists can embed on their Web site, where they probably get most of their traffic. The only risk is that users might freeload everything, but freebies can be a valuable promotional tool--that's how you build a fanbase who will come to shows and eventually buy CDs with more or better-sounding tracks.