Radiohead, the British rock band that is regarded as the pre-eminent free agent in the global music business, is close to signing a series of deals to release its next album independently and leave the major record companies behind.
The band, which stunned the industry this month when it let fans set their own price for the digital download of its new album, is close to a deal to release the CD version of the album domestically through a pact with the music complex headed by Coran Capshaw, the impresario best known for guiding the career of the Dave Matthews Band.
The band is expected to market the album internationally through the British label XL Recordings, according to people briefed on the band’s plans.
The independent labels appear poised to win a bidding war for the band’s album that had included suitors like Warner Brothers Records, Columbia Records and, at one point, Starbucks, whose corporate label has signed artists including Paul McCartney.
Under the proposed deal, Radiohead would license the album, “In Rainbows,” for a specified period of time but retain ownership of the recording.
Side One, a fledgling label being spun off from Mr. Capshaw’s management company, Red Light, would release the album domestically in concert with another of Mr. Capshaw’s companies, ATO Records.
The music business had been buzzing with speculation over how the band would release its new album since it fulfilled its long-term contract with the music giant EMI Group with the delivery of its 2003 album, “Hail to the Thief.”
That album has sold roughly a million copies domestically, and the band’s managers have said they viewed the recent name-your-price offer, in part, as a test of whether the availability of cheap (or free) music online would reduce the band’s future CD sales.
Representatives for the band and Red Light declined to comment.
