The changing landscape of the music world doesn’t come without a few unexpected wrinkles.
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon has sold over 35 million copies. While the songs on Dark Side of the Moon certainly hold up on their own, anyone who has spent time listening to this masterpiece knows that the album is best as a complete piece of work. Each of the songs is a valuable part of the whole.
Pink Floyd always preferred the album concept and therefore largely avoided releasing singles during their career. Instead, they preferred fans to experience the album concept.
Interestingly, their latest record deal was signed with EMI before legal downloads and sites like iTunes came along and stipulates that individual songs must not be sold without the band’s permission. They now argue that the same rule should apply to digital sales. EMI disagrees. As part of a long-running battle between the artist and the label, a judge has sided with Pink Floyd, citing a clause in the contract to “preserve the artistic integrity of the albums.”
Because the two sides are still in litigation (which has been running for over a year now), EMI does not have to stop selling the singles online yet. But that may change before too long.
