By Sebastien Malo
NEW YORK, June 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – British rock band Radiohead announced plans on Tuesday to sell 18 hours of unpublished music and give the proceeds to climate activists after hackers stole the recordings and demanded money.
A tape of previously unheard music recorded during the making of their third studio album, “OK Computer”, that was released in 1997, was reportedly stolen by hackers last week who demanded $150,000 to return the recordings.
But the band said rather than pay a ransom, it was releasing the music in full for sale with profits going to British climate crisis activists Extinction Rebellion.
“We’re releasing all 18 hours … in aid of Extinction Rebellion,” said the band in a Twitter statement signed by its lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.
The band could not be reached for further comment.
Extinction Rebellion, a campaign group seeking rapid action to curb global warming, rose to prominence after it mobilized thousands of people in a peaceful civil disobedience campaign that brought parts of central London to a standstill in April.
Radiohead said its 18 tracks will sell for 18 pounds ($23) for the next 18 days on Bandcamp, a U.S. website that allows artists to sell their music to fans at their own price.
The sessions titled “MINIDISCS” date from between 1995 to 1998.
(Reporting by Sebastien Malo @sebastienmalo, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers climate change, humanitarian news, women’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)
