AC/DC, DEF LEPPARD Among Last Of iTunes Holdouts
June 10, 2008BBC News reports that AC/DC and DEF LEPPARD are among very few major artists that haven't put their body of work on iTunes, Apple's leading download store. Like GARTH BROOKS, the legendary rock acts are believed to be holding out because they want fans to buy their albums whole, whereas Apple insists artists allow fans to buy individual tracks.
AC/DC has stopped their material from appearing on iTunes, choosing instead to sign an exclusive deal (through March 2008) for full-album downloads with U.S. mobile phone operator Verizon.
Since full album downloads are too large and too expensive to sell from mobile phones, Verizon is only selling them from the PC version of its VCast Music service for $12 an album.
The only exception is the group's biggest hit, "You Shook Me All Night Long", which is available as an over-the-air download.
DEF LEPPARD's latest album, "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge", is on iTunes, while the rest of the band's catalog is not.
METALLICA ended its iTunes holdout in July 2006, making its work available for sale via the U.S. and Canada editions of the digital store.
METALLICA albums were previously available for download via services such as MSN Music, but had never been broken up for single-song purchase. At iTunes, the group's first four albums ("Kill 'Em All", "Ride the Lightning", "Master of Puppets" and "...And Justice for All") were expanded with previously unreleased live tracks recorded in Seattle in 1989.
Prev 
Comments Disclaimer And Information