Radiohead's new box set: A plot at the end of In Rainbows?

by Rob Peters | November 13, 2007 at 11:43 am

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A new box set of Radiohead's back catalogue is being released by its old label at the same time as the band's new album, In Rainbows. Some say EMI's timing reflects a behind-the-scenes feud between the label and Radiohead.

Tension between Radiohead and EMI was highlighted again today when the band's former label removed a misleading ad for the group's back catalogue from the internet.

Until the end of last week, anyone typing in Radiohead into Google would be met with a paid-for ad at the top of the search results reading: "Radiohead - New Album 'Rainbow' now available as boxset".

Despite appearances, the ad led not to the special "discbox" edition of In Rainbows but to a website where EMI subsidiary Parlophone is selling a box-set of the seven albums Radiohead recorded while they were still signed to the label.

That the two box-sets are coming out at the same time in December and at the same price had already led some fans to believe that EMI is trying to compete with its former charges' independent release. While EMI has denied this, the ad (visible in a screengrab from Friday, above) raises new questions about the label's motives.