Radiohead's back catalogue now in the hands of XL Recordings
Radiohead's back catalogue has changed hands, with some music disappearing from streaming services as a result.
Some special edition tracks and B-sides are among the tunes removed from the likes of Spotify and Apple Music because of licensing changes. Fans on Reddit first spotted the changes.
Spotify say in a statement: “As a result of a change in rights ownership of Radiohead’s catalogue, the band’s catalogue on Spotify has been streamlined, meaning that a small number of products are no longer available. However, the band’s core album catalogue remains available to their millions of fans on Spotify as before”.
XL Recordings, who have worked with Radiohead's frontman Thom Yorke with his solo work and Atoms For Peace project, now have the rights to the band's catalogue. The rumour mill has once again been sent into overdrive with some fans wondering if this means Radiohead's new album is coming sooner rather than later.
Warner Music (who previously held the rights) are, as Billboard point out, currently looking to shed some assets: “We are making good progress with the voluntary divestment process that Impala/Merlin and WMG agreed as part of our acquisition of Parlophone Label Group. Numerous independent labels are involved in these negotiations and we are not commenting on individual deals at this stage. We expect to make a joint announcement with Impala/Merlin in due course.”
Complete Music Update explains more about the details of the deals.
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