Radiohead with XL Recordings

just a quick one from The Guardian music website...

"After apparently changing the face of the record industry last month with the "pay what you like" release of their album In Rainbows, Radiohead have followed up with a more traditional move, announcing that they are to distribute physical copies of the work through record label XL.

The band had been without a record deal since releasing Hail to the Thief through EMI's Parlophone in 2003. While the band have only agreed to release In Rainbows with XL, the deal has prompted speculation that a longer arrangement may yet be in the offing. Thom Yorke previously released his solo album, The Eraser, through the independent label, which is home to such artists as the White Stripes and Devendra Banhart.

Radiohead to release In Rainbows through XLIndependent label will put physical album in record shops where 'pay what's on the sticker' pricing scheme prevails Paul MacInnesThursday November 1, 2007Guardian Unlimited Radiohead's new album didn't come with cover art when it was released online, so Seattle newspaper The Stranger created this. Photograph: Sam Machkovech/The Stranger

After apparently changing the face of the record industry last month with the "pay what you like" release of their album In Rainbows, Radiohead have followed up with a more traditional move, announcing that they are to distribute physical copies of the work through record label XL.

The band had been without a record deal since releasing Hail to the Thief through EMI's Parlophone in 2003. While the band have only agreed to release In Rainbows with XL, the deal has prompted speculation that a longer arrangement may yet be in the offing. Thom Yorke previously released his solo album, The Eraser, through the independent label, which is home to such artists as the White Stripes and Devendra Banhart.

Announcing the news, XL Recordings founder Richard Russell said: "Radiohead are a constant inspiration to us all, because they unfailingly put creativity first. XL is more than honoured to be working with Radiohead."

Ben Beardsworth, Managing Director of XL Recordings, chipped in: "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."

Quite how "massive" any increase in sales will be when the album is released in stores is an open question, especially as the band have yet to reveal how many copies of In Rainbows have been bought since it was released online on October 10. Gigwise has estimated that as many as 1.2m copies of the album were downloaded from the official site, a figure the band's manager has called "exaggerated"; Forbes, meanwhile, has reported a further 500,000 downloads of the album from illegal file-sharing networks.

"It's certainly true that fans of Radiohead will want a physical copy of In Rainbows," says Gennaro Castaldo of music chain HMV. "But what is currently unclear is how much that pick-up will be. One of the clever things Radiohead did was to get a lot of PR for an innovative move while at the same time doing something very traditional: selling a £40 box set version of their album, albeit online. This might mitigate the potential for sales when a CD hits the stores."
The deal agreed to with XL applies only to the UK and Ireland. The band have yet to strike a similar agreement for a North American release.

Radiohead have yet to comment on the deal themselves, but their managers Bryce Edge and Chris Hufford have previously told Radio 4 they expect the physical release for In Rainbows some time in January."