Pink Floyd, one of the most popular rock bands of all time, has won a lawsuit that could prevent its songs from being sold online as individual tracks.
Instead, people may have to purchase the entire album, the BBC reports, though EMI is not yet required to stop selling single songs.
Before the advent of online music stores, Pink Floyd had a contract with EMI that precluded sales of individual songs without the band's permission. At issue in this case was whether the word "record" in the contract applied to digital music files as well as physical media.
Chancellor Sir Andrew Morritt sided with Pink Floyd. The band's albums tend to be concepts with common themes running through each song, and the band generally avoided releasing singles. The band played through entire albums in its live performances as well. A former manager for Pink Floyd, Peter Jenner, told the BBC that preserving the integrity of the album was important. "Tracks were dropped because they didn't fit in with the whole thing," he said. "I think that was quite common, especially in the 70s and 80s."
This particular argument is part of a larger lawsuit in which Pink Floyd claims the record label owes 10 million pounds in unpaid royalties. EMI says the battle over individual tracks isn't over, noting that "there are further arguments to be heard on this and the case will go on for some time."
For now, you can still download individual Pink Floyd songs through iTunes, Amazon and other online retailers. Though I don't think music fans should be forced to buy more than what they want -- doing so only encourages piracy as an alternative, and you can't force someone to actually listen in a particular manner anyway -- I do agree with Pink Floyd that the band's albums are best heard in their entirety.
