RADIO STATION IN TROUBLE OVER ‘KID..’

But XFM claim the furore has actually helped publicise 'Kid A''s imminent release...

A Canadian radio station is claiming credit for publicising Radiohead‘s ‘KID A’ album after playing material from the album without permission.

XFM in Canada had obtained and broadcast a digital copy of the track ‘Optimistic’ ahead of its official radio release. The station was issued with a notice from Radiohead‘s label EMI to cease and desist playing the song until the album’s official release to radio.

The station complied, but the story then emerged on the front cover of the Vancouver Sun. Talking to local newspaper the Vancouver Province, David Hawkes, director of marketing and artist relations for XFM, said: “I would imagine (EMI) is pretty pleased because they got a nice colour photo of the band on the front cover. That’s the ironic thing. We’ve created more of a splash for the upcoming Radiohead release than they have.”

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He continued: “We did more marketing for this band in this market (Canada) than its marketing people did, that’s the reality of it. Six months ago I think there’d be problems. But two weeks before the release, it creates a little storm.”

Earlier this week it emerged that the whole of ‘Kid A’ was already available over the Internet. Live bootlegs of tracks could be accessed via software provider Napster some weeks ago.

Security surrounding ‘Kid A’ has been notoriously tight, with journalists invited to playback parties, rather than the usual practice of receiving preview copies.

‘Kid A’ is released in the UK on October 2 through Parlophone.

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