Radiohead did it pretty successfully. They are probably the largest credible band in the English speaking world. Mr. Stross has indicated that he's not ready t

Radiohead did it pretty successfully. They are probably the largest credible band in the English speaking world. Mr. Stross has indicated that he's not ready to 'do a Radiohead' yet. I can understand why. I spent ten years working for a (very) independent UK record label (Warp) and am now managing an artist. Self publication on any scale is still not as easy as it looks. You need a group of skilled people around you to make it work. Oddly enough, that group of people starts looks a lot like a record label, or a publishing house. If you have found a really good (or perhaps even tolerably good) record label or publisher, one that you trust, that pay you good advances and royalties, that have good people on board that you enjoy working with - then self publishing doesn't look like that attractive an option. It's certainly not an easy one. Having said that, I think Charlie should give it a shot sooner rather than later, because his fanbase will be disproportionately well connected, which reduces the effort of marketing greatly.