Pink Floyd has won its court battle with EMI over illegal distribution of the band’s music. This victory should be celebrated everywhere as triumph for artists over greedy corporations. The judges states that record label EMI had to “preserve the artistic integrity of the albums.” EMI has been selling Pink Floyd songs as individual downloads on iTunes when the contract signed between the two clearly states that all albums had to be sold as entire works.

EMI allegedly owes up to £10 million in unpaid royalties to the group, whose record catalog is supposedly the most “lucrative” outside of The Beatles. Garth Brooks and AC/DC are two other musicians that do not want their albums split up either, so Pink Floyd is not alone. Remember when Radiohead released its last LP, In Rainbows, it allowed each buyer to set the amount that he/she felt comfortable with paying, but eventually, the CD and vinyl copies went on sale in regular stores.

I am all for the elimination of record companies altogether. With digital distribution popularized by iTunes, newer musicians do not need record contracts from talentless studio executives. The means of production are now easily accessible to the artists themselves, and they no longer require the promotion and resources of fat cats.

Source: BBC