Abandoning the “pay what you want” pricing model that grabbed headlines in 2007, Radiohead is releasing its next record in multiple formats, including what the band calls “the world’s first newspaper album.”

The King of Limbs, the English group’s eighth studio album, will be available for download Saturday.

Presale has already begun on the Radiohead website. The album will come in two digital formats, either 320 KBps MP3s ($9) or CD-quality, uncompressed WAV files ($14).

The newspaper album will cost $48 with MP3s or $53 with WAVs. The elaborate physical packaging (details below) won’t ship till May 9, but anybody who buys the newspaper album can download the music files Saturday. One downloader will receive a two-track 12-inch vinyl record signed by band members.

Details on the newspaper album from Radiohead’s site:

• Two clear 10-inch vinyl records in a purpose-built record sleeve.
• A compact disc.
• Many large sheets of artwork, 625 tiny pieces of artwork and a full-color piece of degradable plastic to hold it all together.
• A digital download that is compatible with all good digital media players.

Neither a track list nor details on the newspaper album’s artwork have been released. Nigel Godrich, Radiohead’s long-time collaborator, produced the record.

Radiohead’s experimental pricing scheme for its 2007 album In Rainbows turned a healthy profit, in addition to the media attention it garnered for the band.

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