The indie-band Radiohead got an unexpected message recently from a hacker who claimed he had stolen 18 hours’ worth of unreleased music that the band recorded during the late ‘90s. The hacker demanded the band fork over $150,000, or he would release the music.
Instead of bowing to the hacker’s demands, Radiohead responded in the most admirable way possible: they released the recordings themselves on the music platform Bandcamp, allowing listeners to buy the songs for £18 ($23), with all proceeds going to the global grassroots organization Extinction Rebellion.
Radiohead’s decision to support and call attention to Extinction Rebellion served as an opportunity for the climate campaign to share its work with the public as well as adding to its funds as it organizes direct actions in more than 50 countries around the world. Even the famous publication Rolling Stone shared information about Extinction Rebellion online. Well done, Radiohead, well done!