Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google!

In this edition:

• New YouTube "My Videos" interface
• YouTube Living Legends: Chuck D. and Snoop
• Radiohead gets Googlefied
• Webmaster Tools Access Provider program

Last week Radiohead made waves when the band announced that it would be distributing its new album without the help of a record label. Not only will you be able to download the new album online, and not only will your money go directly to Radiohead, but you can set your own price.

Now Nine Inch Nails appears to be following suit. Frontman Trent Reznor posted a brief message on the band's homepage that says the band is a "free agent," after spending 18 years watching record labels transform. Reznor says he's looking forward to developing a "direct relationship" with his audience. While he doesn't say anything about digital music downloads, all signs point to a Radiohead-like announcement in the near future.

Reznor has a history of encouraging fans to do interesting things with his music. While some are arguing that these moves by popular bands like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead signal a dramatic shift in the recording industry, things aren't really that simple. Yes, these bands are popular enough that they can afford to tell off the record labels. The bands will sell music, sell out concerts, and make plenty of money anyway.

But there are a thousand websites where you can already pay for music by independent musicians or download tracks for free. And the truth of the matter is few, if any, of the artists on these sites will ever be the next Nine Inch Nails or Radiohead. That's not because their music isn't good. It's because it's hard to attract the kind of following that well known bands have without a huge advertising budget.

What do you think? Are we seeing the start of a trend? Or are Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails just getting a lot of attention for doing something pretty insignificant?

Radiohead's new album will be available in stores as an $80 box set. Or you can download a digital copy for whatever price you think is fair. In other words, the band isn't quite giving away their album, but they might be coming pretty close.

While companies like Amazon are rushing to offer users more control over their music and what devices they can play it on, it's interesting to see a successful band like Radiohead advocate more consumer input in the price of music. CD prices have skyrocketed in recent years, and we've come to think that $.89 is a low price for a single song download. But given their druthers, what would music fans really pay for a song they really want to listen to?

Radiohead's new album, titled In Rainbows will officially launch on October 10th. If you pay the $80 for a box set, you get the album on vinyl and CD. You'll be able to download the tracks for free. There's no word on what format the downloadable version will take, or if the songs will contain DRM.

[via Boing Boing and Silicon Alley Insider]