AC/DC`s “no downloads” policy has slipped through the cracks in Australia. Download service BigPond Music currently has 16 AC/DC albums on sale.
AC/DC has been opposed to the digital download format and outspoken about being involved with download companies."Since iTunes came into existence, we've actually increased our back catalogue sales without being on the site. We were sternly warned by our management team and our record label that the complete opposite would be the case," Angus Young said in a recent interview.
“Maybe I'm just being old-fashioned, but this iTunes, God bless 'em, it's going to kill music if they're not careful," Brian Johnson told Reuters. “It's a...monster, this thing. It just worries me. And I'm sure they're just doing it all in the interest of making as much...cash as possible. Let's put it this way, it's certainly not for the...love, let's get that out of the way, right away,"
A representative for AC/DC tells Undercover News that the “no downloads” policy is not just for iTunes, it is for all download services.
When Undercover contacted BigPond we were told, “We are not selling the new album but we are selling the old albums bundled because AC/DC want to sell it as an album”.
BigPond Music has 16 titles for sale at $16.50 each. ‘Ballbreaker’, ‘The Razors Edge’, ‘Blow Up Your Video’, ‘Flick Of The Switch’, ‘High Voltage’ and ‘Live’ are available as either MP3 or WMA format.
‘For Those About To Rock’, ‘Stiff Upper Lip’, ‘Powerage’, ‘Let There Be Rock’, ‘Who Made Who’, ‘Highway To Hell’, ‘Jailbreak’ and ‘If You Want Blood You’ve Got It’ are available in WMA only.
Single tracks are no available through the service.
‘AC/DC Live’ is the number 17 album for BigPond this week.
A search for AC/DC downloads on other international services found that Napster UK has the AC/DC back catalogue for download as well.
