What is the name of the label that the band who wanted the rights to their back catalog signed to after leaving EMI?
As Radiohead's recording contract with EMI ended after the 2003 release of Hail to the Thief, Radiohead recorded In Rainbows without a record label. In 2005, Yorke told Time: "I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say 'Fuck you' to this decaying business model." In August 2007, as Radiohead were finishing In Rainbows, EMI was acquired by the private equity firm Terra Firma for US$6.4 billion (£4.7 billion).EMI executives including Keith Wozencroft, who had signed Radiohead to EMI, travelled regularly to Radiohead's Oxfordshire studio in hopes of negotiating a new contract. Even in the days leading to the album announcement, the executives believed a deal could be made, and were "devastated" when Radiohead's team informed them of the pay-what-you-want plan a day in advance. Radiohead wanted the rights to their back catalog, which new EMI owner Guy Hands refused. He believed that Radiohead had already decided on their plan and would only have canceled it with a "really big" offer.After an EMI spokesman stated that Radiohead had demanded "an extraordinary amount of money", Radiohead's management and Yorke released statements denying that they had asked for a large advance, but instead wanted control over their back catalogue. According to Hands: "They wanted a lot of money ... And they wanted their masters back, which we valued even more. At our valuation, it was millions and millions that they wanted."According to Eamonn Forde, author of The Final Days of EMI, Radiohead had lost faith in EMI and thought the new ownership would be a "bloodbath". O'Brien said: "It was really sad to leave all the people [we'd worked with] ... But Terra Firma don't understand the music industry." Days after Radiohead signed to XL, EMI announced a box set of Radiohead material recorded before In Rainbows, released in the same week as the In Rainbows special edition. Commentators including the Guardian saw the move as retaliation for the band choosing not to re-sign with EMI.
XL