Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Most Radiohead fans are choosing to download the British rock band's newest album without paying for it, according to researcher ComScore Inc.

Fewer than four out of 10 fans worldwide who downloaded ``In Rainbows'' between Oct. 10 and Oct. 29 purchased it, paying $6 on average, ComScore said today in a statement.

``You could argue that it makes economic sense for the band to open up their music to new listeners, which may open up ticket sales and merchandise sales down the road,'' Andrew Lipsman, a senior analyst at ComScore, said in an interview.

Radiohead ended its recording contract with EMI Group Ltd. after its last studio album and offered the new recording online, allowing buyers to choose their price or pay nothing. The music industry has been hurt by declining CD sales, caused in part by the free distribution of downloaded music on the Internet.

In the U.S., 40 percent of Radiohead fans who downloaded ``In Rainbows'' paid an average $8.05, ComScore said. Outside the U.S., 36 percent paid for the digital recording at an average price of $4.64.

``There's more of a download culture in Western Europe, so maybe these are people more used to not paying,'' said Lipsman. ``Or the other theory is that the U.S. has higher disposable income on average than the rest of the world.''

ComScore, based in Reston, Virginia, said it obtained the results from its database of 2 million people who gave permission to monitor their online behavior. It watched activity on Radiohead's Web site from Oct. 1 to Oct. 29.

Separately, EMI, the world's fourth-largest record company, said today it will release a boxed set containing six of the band's studio albums and a live album on Dec. 10. EMI, now owned by private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd., owns the rights to Radiohead's past catalog.

Last week U.K. independent label XM Recordings said it will release the compact disc version of ``In Rainbows'' outside North America. No date was given.

To contact the reporter on this story: Don Jeffrey in New York at djeffrey1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 5, 2007 16:44 EST