June 10, 2008 11:42

U2's manager: 'Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' album backfired'

Paul McGuinness says U2's next album won't be given away free

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U2's manager Paul McGuinness has said that Radiohead's decision to release their latest album 'In Rainbows' on a pay-what-you-like basis has "backfired".

McGuinness said that U2's forthcoming new album, which he said is likely to be released in October, would not be released in the style of 'In Rainbows'.

The manager claimed that most fans who downloaded the album did so through illegal means, despite the album being available for a nominal amount legally.

"60 to 70 percent of the people who downloaded the record stole it anyway," he told BBC 6 Music's Music Week, "even though it was available for free."

Speaking about how U2's album will be released, McGuinness said, "We will obviously work with whatever technology is available to make the release of the new record as interesting as possible.

"[But] for U2 physical sales are still an enormous part of our business and we still sell a lot of actual CDs."

The record will be the follow-up to 2004's 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb'.