A few weeks ago we discussed artists who—for one reason or another—have elected not to make their music available via digital outlets such as iTunes. One of the artists mentioned in that blog post, Bob Seger, has stated that he feels that his songs should only be downloadable as complete albums.
Seger is not alone. Recently, psychedelic rock icons Pink Floyd won a major lawsuit against their record label, EMI. In the suit, Pink Floyd (much like Seger) argued that their music was never intended to be distributed as individual tracks. Their songs, they contended, are part of a greater work of art—the album.
According to spinner.com (and our friends at Sno-Isle’s Collection Development Blog), while this lawsuit was in progress, EMI’s distribution rights to several of Pink Floyd’s post-Dark Side of the Moon albums unceremoniously expired.¹ Because of this, several of the band’s biggest releases (including The Wall and Wish You Were Here) are no longer available for digital download and the physical versions could go out of print in the near future. Their earlier works, including Piper at the Gates of Dawn, will continue to be distributed by EMI.
Fortunately, the evergreen popularity of Pink Floyd will probably ensure that these titles will not be homeless for long. However, libraries interested in purchasing endangered titles may want to do so sooner rather than later as EMI will only be able to sell copies that they currently have in their possession. The following titles and their corresponding stock numbers are available on our website:
- Wish You Were Here (EMM975021C)
- Animals (EMM974826C)
- The Wall (EMM124329C)
- The Final Cut (EMM767342C)
Do you agree with the band that their music should be kept in album format? Or do you think that the band should open up to individual song downloads?
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