Will Verizon Wireless co-release new Pearl Jam album?

Alternative rock elder statesmen Pearl Jam, who recently terminated their 18-year affiliation with the Sony family of labels, are poised to release their forthcoming album without traditional label backing, instead issuing the record across a variety of retail and digital platforms, including an unnamed mobile operator. Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis tells Billboard that while the album--tentatively titled Backspacer--will arrive at traditional brick-and-mortar retail this fall via big-box chain Target, the band is also in negotiations with a wireless carrier, an online retailer, a gaming company and a network of independent record stores. "Target ended up allowing us to have other partners," Curtis said. "We'll be able to take care of all levels of the Pearl Jam fan... We wish we could tell the whole story right now, but all the deals aren't done."

Given Pearl Jam's lengthy working relationship with Verizon Wireless, it doesn't require a huge leap in logic to assume the operator is the mobile partner in question. Earlier this year, Verizon's V Cast Music with Rhapsody effort launched a series of exclusive full-track downloads, ringtones and ringbacks spotlighting the remastered and expanded edition of Pearl Jam's 1991 debut album Ten, but the collaboration dates back to last year, when the operator partnered with the band to expand its bootleg effort to the mobile platform--Verizon offered subscribers exclusive mobile access to live recordings from each date on Pearl Jam's 12-city summer 2008 tour, with the group's studio engineer mixing three songs from each performance for distribution as full-track downloads and ringtones. In addition, in early 2008 Verizon Wireless rolled out an exclusive custom mobile video featuring Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder's solo effort "Guaranteed," the theme from director Sean Penn's acclaimed feature film Into the Wild.

For more on Pearl Jam's Backspacer plans:
- read this Billboard article