LONDON - ALBUM lovers may rejoice a little at last: a British court says Pink Floyd, purveyor of iTunes-unfriendly concept records, cannot be unbundled.
The High Court ruled on Thursday that record label EMI Group Ltd can't sell Pink Floyd tracks individually without the band's permission. A judge said that the band's contract applied both to physical albums and Internet sales.
Experts said the ruling offers another brick in the wall supporting artists' control of their own work - and a boost for music fans dismayed by the power of online music retailers to slice and dice albums into individual tracks.
The ruling comes in a long-running legal case that saw Pink Floyd sue its record label, saying its contract prohibited selling songs 'unbundled' from their original album setting.
The band's lawyer, Mr Robert Howe, said the band was known for producing 'seamless' pieces of music on albums like The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, and wanted to retain artistic control.
EMI claimed the clause in the band's contract - negotiated more than a decade ago, before the advent of iTunes and other online retailers - did not apply to Internet sales. But judge Andrew Morritt backed the band, saying the contract protected 'the artistic integrity of the albums' in both physical and online form. -- AP
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