Radiohead sign with XL to put In Rainbows in the shops

Radiohead have signed with XL Recordings, the London independent, to release In Rainbows on CD, NME reported on 31 October. XL put out Thom Yorke's The Eraser last year, and the record was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. The White Stripes and Dizzee Rascal are on the label too.

'In Rainbows' is truly a classic album and it deserves to reach a massive audience, well beyond that of download and boxset sales

Ben Beardsworth¹

, says Ben Beardsworth of XL.

The deal is expected to cover everywhere outside North America, and no terms have been made public. A week ago the New York Times reported that the band were close to a deal with ATO Records, run by the Dave Matthews Band's manager Coran Capshaw, for the US. The band would license the album for a fixed period and keep ownership of the recording. Warner Brothers, Columbia and Starbucks were said to have bid too. The American deal is still open, and Pitchfork says it could yet go to ATO.

Nobody yet agrees on when the CD reaches the shops. Bryce Edge and Chris Hufford, the band's managers, said on Radio 4 earlier this month that it could be as soon as January, and NME and Uncut say early next year. Other reports, crediting Billboard, expect it on 3 December, the day the £40 discbox is due.

In Rainbows has been on sale from the band's site since 10 October, as a download at whatever price each buyer chooses. It is their first album since leaving EMI. No sales figures have been released, and Edge told Billboard that reports of 1.2 million downloads are exaggerated.