Actually the headline makes it sound like they release 10 trapped fans annually as a seasonal gesture.  Music-News reports: "Every year since 1988, R.E.M. has released a special Christmas single for fan club members. In the early years, the release was usually on vinyl and combined a regular Christmas song with a cover of another artist's non-holiday song. After a few years, that changed to special versions of their own songs along with more covers and the medium changed to CD's, VHS tapes and DVD's."

This year's fan club release is a cover of Darlene Love's Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) with Mike Mills on lead vocals and a special dubmix of three songs from their upcoming album.

For the record, here's the complete list of R.E.M. Christmas releases over the years:

1988 - Parade of the Wooden Soldiers/See No Evil (Television cover)

1989 - Good King Wenceslas/Academy Fight Song (Mission of Burma cover)

1990 - Ghost Reindeer in the Sky (spoof of Ghost Riders in the Sky by Stan Jones)/Summertime (from Porgy & Bess)

1991 - Baby Baby (Vibrators cover)/Christmas Griping (R.E.M. original)

1992 - Where's Captain Kirk? (Spizzenergi cover)/Toyland (from Babes in Toyland)

1993 - Silver Bells/Christmas Time Is Here (from A Charlie Brown Christmas)

1994 - Sex Bomb (Flipper cover)/Christmas in Tunisia (R.E.M. original)

1995 - Wicked Game (Chris Isaak cover)/Java (Allen Toussaint instrumental cover)

1996 - Only in America (Jay & the Americans cover)/I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor cover)

1997 - Live for Today (R.E.M. original)/Happy When I'm Crying (performed by Pearl Jam; Pearl Jam original)

1998 - E-Bow the Letter (live video, with backing vocals by Thom Yorke) /Lucky (live video, performed by Radiohead with vocals by Michael Stipe; Radiohead original)

1999 - Country Feedback (live version of the R.E.M. original, with Neil Young on guitar)/Ambulance Blues (performed by Neil Young and R.E.M.; Neil Young original)

2000 - Christmas Time (Is Here Again) (Beatles cover)/Hastings and Main (R.E.M. original)/Take Seven (R.E.M. original)

2001 - Let Me In (live)/Find the River (live)/Find the River (Athens rehearsal video)

2002 - No Matter What (Badfinger cover)/Jesus Christ (Big Star cover)/video footage of Michael Stipe reading from a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.

2003 - Country Feedback (live, with Wilco) /It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) (live, with Wilco)

2004 - I Wanted to Be Wrong (live)/She Just Wants to Be (live)

2005 - Turn You Inside-Out (live video)/The Great Beyond (live video)

2006 - Tongue (live, performed by Tin Cup Prophette)/So. Central Rain (live)/These Days (live, performed by The Observatory/Begin The Begin (live)

2007 - Merry Xmas Everybody (Slade cover)/Magnetic North (R.E.M. original)

2008 - Living Well is the Best Revenge (live video)/Let Me In (live video)/Just a Touch (live video)

2009 - Santa Baby (Mike Mills solo)/Crazy Like a Fox (Mike Mills with Bill Berry & John Keane)

2010 - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (Darlene Love cover)/IHT->U->EDIYTW (dubmix)