Thom Yorke album a 'huge success' for BitTorrent

Thom Yorke surprised fans on Friday with the release of a new solo album, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes, made available exclusively at BitTorrent for the pay-gated price of just $6.

As of Monday at noon ET, there had been 430,000 downloads worldwide of the album. Some were free, as one track and a video in front of the pay gate can be previewed before purchase. While that number can't be revealed under terms of the agreement, Matt Mason, chief content officer of BitTorrent Inc., says the company has "been really, really happy at the conversion rate."

The numbers can be found at Yorke's Bundle, Mason says. "The experiment was a massive success as far as we're concerned," and consumers "can expect to see a lot from more us."

Under the deal, BitTorrent takes 10% of the profits, with the artist receiving 90%. In a joint statement Friday with producer Nigel Gorich, Yorke noted: "If it works well, it can be an effective way of handing some control of Internet commerce back to people who are creating the work."

In 2007, Yorke and his Radiohead bandmates first made their album In Rainbows available to fans on a "name your own price" basis. The group made a late debut at No. 1 on Billboard's best-selling album chart (which accounts for domestic sales only) the following January, selling 122,000 copies, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Last week's best-selling album on that chart, Barbra Streisand's Partners, sold 196,000 copies in the USA.