British rock band Oasis has yielded to time and trend, adding its 10 albums (representing over 70-million album sales) to Spotify, Rhapsody, Deezer, and Rdio. This might not seem like big news to non-fans, but the band’s capitulation to on-demand streaming is another indicator of the “must do this” conclusion reached by bands that have held out in the past.
Oasis follows the lead of Led Zeppelin, which signed an exclusive deal with Spotify last fall. Metallica, which once staunchly resisted Internet distribution, threw its back catalog into the mix at Spotify last December. Notable hold-outs still are AC/DC and The Beatles. (Anyone wanting to soundtrack their day with The Beatles should try the All Beatles and Stones station on iHeartRadio, which balances the mix about three-to-one in favor of the fab four.)
As usual with announcements like this, but rarely mentioned, YouTube already carries Oasis extensively, with full albums, live performances, official videos, and the band’s own YouTube channel. The invisible elephant in the room, YouTube will a abruptly become more visible when it launches a dedicated music service sometime this year.