Radiohead releases years of music after being held up for $150,000 ransom

Legendary band Radiohead just released 18 hours of previously unheard material due to an unusual cause. The music, recorded during the time period from 1995 to 1998–the era when the classic LP OK Computer was written and released–had been stored on a minidisk archive.

Stolen by a hacker, the files were held ransom for the sum of $150K, upon threat of releasing the archive to the public unless the band paid up. Rather than submit to the blackmail, Thom Yorke and his bandmates decided to take matters into their own hands, releasing the material themselves.

In an official statement, Radiohead called the collection “not v interesting” and offered to let fans download it for a limited time. For £18, listeners can download the archive in its entirety, with the proceeds going to Extinction Rebellion, a climate activism group.

It seems that instead of the money going to a criminal, there will now be an influx of cash to a group looking to do good in the world, and fans of an iconic band will have some new material to pore over. Check it out here and read Radiohead’s official statement below.

Radiohead official statement:

we’ve been hacked
my archived mini discs from 1995-1998(?)
it’s not v interesting
there’s a lot of it

if you want it, you can buy the whole lot here
18 minidisks for £18
the proceeds will go to Extinction Rebellion

as it’s out there
it may as well be out there
until we all get bored
and move on

Thmx