I got this from ateaseweb.com which posted a New York Times article from today:
"Radiohead is close to signing a series of deals to release its next album, ‘In Rainbows’ independently and leave the major record companies behind.According to The New York Times, the band is close to a deal to release the CD version of the album in North America 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.
Radiohead’s previous album ‘Hail to the Thief’ 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."