Radiohead has ended weeks of speculation by confirming it has struck a deal with British indie label XL Recordings for the physical release of its new album, “In Rainbows.”
The deal is expected to cover territories outside North America, leaving the band free to sign a separate deal there, but no further details have yet been made available.
A release date for the physical CD has also not been given, but sources suggest it will coincide with the Dec. 3 arrival of the “discbox” edition of “In Rainbows” available only from Radiohead.com. Others speculate it may not appear until next year.
The band broke the industry rulebooks when they made “In Rainbows” available for download on Oct. 10, with fans able to name their own price. No sales figures have been released, but the band’s manager Bryce Edge told Billboard recently that reports of 1.2 million were “exaggerated.”
London-based XL, which operates under the umbrella of the Beggars Group, last year released Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke’s critically lauded solo album, “The Eraser,” which was nominated for the annual Mercury Music Prize.
“Radiohead are a constant inspiration to us all, because they unfailingly put creativity first. XL is more than honoured to be working with Radiohead,” explained XL founder Richard Russell of the deal.
“Radiohead have created a huge amount of excitement via the unique way in which they launched this campaign online,” added the label’s Managing Director Ben Beardsworth. “‘In Rainbows’ is truly a classic album and it deserves to reach a massive audience, well beyond that of download and boxset sales. We will be working closely with them to help deliver that.”
[from Billboard, NME, thx Tanner]
Radiohead news on this day..
- Philip Selway working on new material, collaborates with Kate Rusby – 2012
- Colin shares Haunted Air for Halloween – 2010
- Straylight Run covers ‘I Will’ – 2004
- Travis fed up playing 2nd fiddle to Radiohead – 2003
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