(Hypebot) — Def Leppard, one of a handful of major artists whose music was not available digitally, have licensed their catalog to both download and streaming services.
Here’s why it took so long.
Def Leppard is finally available digitally. Starting today, their entire catalog is available online, both to download and on streaming services.
Prior to today, only re-recorded versions, which the band jokingly called “forgeries” of some of their big hits like ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ and ‘Rock Of Ages,’ were available digitally
The delay began with a dispute over royalty rates, an ongoing attempt to make a new deal, the death of a manager and constant personnel changes at their former record label Universal Music.
“Before he passed away, Howard Kaufman [the band’s manager] was very into this deal,” Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott told TeamRock. “We tried to do a deal many years ago, but it didn’t work out, so we just waited and bided our time. Record labels, or any kind of institution like this, keep the same name, but every 18 months you can have totally different people. ”
Why do the deal now?
“Because we were off the road, and we could spend some time thinking about this,” Elliott continued. ” People throw contracts and stuff at you halfway between New York and Philadelphia and you’ve got your head in another space, and you sign all the wrong things, you don’t take it in. We had the time and the effort to let the guys get on with us and then come back at us, and over the last three or four months it’s all settled into place.”
