Michael Stipe, former lead singer of REM, has released his first solo single since the band was dissolved in 2011. In the interim, he has overseen reissues from the band as well as undertaking photography projects and hosting exhibitions of his work.

For the release of ‘Your Capricious Soul’ he has taken something of a leaf out of Radiohead’s book (a band he has acted as a mentor to since the 1990s). It is not available, for now, on any of the major DSPs. Instead, it can be downloaded (yes, downloaded!) direct from his website.

There is a suggested minimum price of $0.77 (£0.65) for which you get the song (in a master-quality audio file), the video, a lyric document by Stipe, a print-ready poster, a stencil and an animated flip-book portrait as a GIF. Stipe says all money raised will be donated to Extinction Rebellion. (Indeed, our receipt from PayPal said payment was made to “Extinction Rebellion Organzing [sic] Committee”.) Fans can also pay over and above the $0.77 by setting their own retail price. When paying, there is a simple data-capture mechanic to get email addresses and then it links through to PayPal. There is also an option to pay nothing, but if you do that you just get the track itself and none of the extras.

“Extinction Rebellion gave me the incentive to push the release and not wait,” said Stipe in a statement. “Our relationship to the environment has been a lifelong concern, and I now feel hopeful – optimistic, even. I believe we can bring the kind of change needed to improve our beautiful planet earth, our standing and our place on it.”

One criticism is that, because there are lots of things to access, you have to download them individually rather than as a single zip file. It’s hardly the worst thing in marketing and besides he has clearly done a noble thing – using the media focus around his first piece of solo music to raise awareness and money for a cause he strongly believes in.