We all know that some artists have escaped the streaming services, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin are not on Spotify for example… well the times they are a-changin'… no I am not talking about Dylan, whose catalogue was removed from Spotify in 2009, and put back on the streaming service at the beginning of last year!… I guess his management changed his mind, but I'm talking about another prominent artist which will make its debut on subscription services soon.
According to the New York Times, Led Zeppelin is in negotiations for the right to stream ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘Stairway to Heaven’, and probably all the rest of their catalog. A spokesman for the Warner Music Group released the statement:
‘We’re excited about the opportunity to collaborate with Led Zeppelin to activate streaming rights for their catalog. We’re supportive of the band’s discussions with W.M.G.’s streaming service partners to create a window of exclusivity to maximize the impact of this launch.’
Led Zeppelin has been one of the biggest selling act in history, so you have to imagine all the streaming services in the world, such as Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio, Deezer, are in tight competition for the exclusive rights. All these services propose about the same deals, the same songs and artists, so getting an exclusivity like Led Zeppelin, a band which sold 111 million albums in the US, would be a real boost for Spotify for example, which is still losing money, (something like $56 million in 2011!)
At the end, even the bands who have resisted against digital downloads and streaming services are finally getting there, AC/DC is now on iTunes and in Wal-Mart commercials, and soon there won’t be any exception. Streaming services are the future of music, it’s pointless to resist, they are to music evolution what same-sex marriage and abortion rights are to social evolution, they are unavoidable.