Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
XL Recordings has recently purchased from Warner Music Radiohead’s back catalog. English rock band Radiohead has been around since 1985, and their first six studio albums were released through EMI subsidiary Parlophone. However, the band went independent in 2007 when they released their album In Rainbows. In 2013, Warner Music acquired ownership of EMI and began putting out offers for thousands of artists’ back catalogs. Radiohead was included in this. XL Recordings, however, became the owner of Radiohead’s back catalog.
Now, many music streaming services (including Spotify) list XL Recordings as the record label for Radiohead’s first six studio albums. As a result, the band’s 2008 greatest hits album along with the deluxe albums of all six albums are now no longer available for streaming. A spokesperson for Spotify explained this:
“As a result of the transfer of Radiohead’s catalogue from Warner Music to Beggars Group (the owner of XL), the band’s catalogue on Spotify has been streamlined, meaning that a small number of products are no longer available.”
However, XL Recordings assisted Radiohead in releasing In Rainbows and The King of Limbs (released when the band went independent), so the band likely has no problem with this transfer of ownership. A spokesperson for Radiohead declined comment and nothing has been said from their camp yet. This morning, a spokesperson for XL Recordings said:
“This is the first step in the transfer of Radiohead’s back catalogue from Parlophone to XL. The main albums are being made available in their original form as a start, before non-LP material is reconfigured.”
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