To "Radiohead" an album is now a verb in the music industry.

It means to offer your CD up as a digital download on the Internet and then ask consumers to pay what they think it's worth.

The Oxford art-rock quintet, which always has pushed musical boundaries on its records during the past 15 years, became an industry pioneer last October. When freed from its previous contract with record label EMI, the band put its latest work, In Rainbows, up for download bids on the Net before it was released in record stores on Jan. 1. (The album is distributed by indie label Maple Music in Canada.)

In fact, Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor just followed in Radiohead's footsteps this week with his new record, Ghosts I-IV.

"It's (all about) how much you think it's worth compared to how much you would spend on other music," Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood, 38, said recently down the line from his Oxfordshire home.

"(Is) music ... something that's being commodified in such a way so that you would go into a record shop and pay the same for a Dylan record or an Alanis Morissette album? Does that mean they're all as good as each other? Alanis Morissette is as good as The Beatles and Radiohead is as good as The Rolling Stones? If they all cost the same, does that mean they're all equally good? That's kind of what we were thinking about."

While Radiohead has never released official sales figures, it was reported that 1.2-million digital downloads were sold by the day of the album's release. Radiohead's management claimed that the Internet-only distribution was intended to boost sales of the physical album, which seemed to have worked since it debuted at No. 1 in Canada, the U.S. and England.

"It was a choice we consciously made," Greenwood said. "And there was the other choice which was sign to a big record company, which was something that we'd rejected. We wanted to make a decision that kept us alive creatively and made sure we could still be connected to people who would like our music. It was unknown because nobody, on that scale, had done it so we didn't know what was going to happen. The fact that so many people bought it and bought into it was really exciting."

And while the Internet release of In Rainbows generally led to excitement about the album's release in stores, Greenwood said ultimately the band's fans proved to be a faithful lot.

"We're aware that it's not a one-off, novelty marketing scheme, and it's something that's based upon people being into what we've done over time and people coming to see our shows," he said. "I remember when we were working on a song called Lucky, which was on (1997's) OK Computer, one of the first times we were working on it we were playing in a little club in London, Ontario. The places that we've played, they've contributed to the music that ends up on the records in the future."

Radiohead is currently gearing up to tour In Rainbows, starting with rehearsals this month before the May 15 launch in West Palm Beach, Fla.

"We're going to reconvene and try to remember how things go," Greenwood said. "It's tricky. It's like if it took so long to make the record, it's going to take awhile to learn how to put it across live."

And Greenwood can hardly wait to start.

"I love it," he said. "I'm a road dog."

The married father of two young boys wasn't sure how many kids might be going on the tour bus this time but suspected it would be a lot given that all of the Radiohead members are now fathers.

"We might be doing more of that this time and I think that's really cool," he said. "Because I think it's part of who were are as a band and what we do and that should be seen and shared by the people that we love and live with."

Greenwood said while his boys don't totally understand what dad does for a living, they seem to have a good time at live performances.

"I think they're proud of it but they don't know what it is, really, until they're standing by the side of the stage with their ear defenders on watching their parents make tits of themselves," he said.

Greenwood has soft spot for Canada

The lone Canadian date announced so far on Radiohead's world tour is Aug. 15 at the Molson Amphitheatre, although the band has confirmed it will also play gigs in Montreal and Vancouver.

After launching with a small number of U.S. dates in May, Radiohead will play the U.K. and Europe in June and July before returning to North America.

"I'm anxious to play in Canada," bassist Colin Greenwood said.

"I have a soft, warm spot for Canada. I love playing everywhere but I do enjoy (Canada) very much. It's diverse. Toronto, Montreal, we've played Edmonton, London, Ont. We've played lots of places over the years."

Turns out that one of Greenwood's favourite bookstores (he's a university literature major and amateur photographer) is also in Canada, specifically, Toronto's This Ain't The Rosedale Library.

"Oh, yeah. I bought Pennie Smith's book there," said Greenwood, referring to the British photographer's collection, The Clash: Before And After.

"I love that book, it's brilliant. The other book I got was terrible though. It was like 'photographs I had to take' by this choreographer whose name I forget."