The 7 Biggest iTunes Hold-Outs--And Why They Object (PHOTOS)

AC/DC's lead singer, Brian Johnson, calls Apple's iTunes a "monster."

While numerous artists have embraced Apple's digital storefront, still others identify with Johnson's stance, taking issue with iTunes' terms and refusing to let Apple carry their songs.

We've put together a list of the seven biggest iTunes hold-outs who aren't letting Apple get their hands on their music -- yet.

Check them out in the slideshow below!

The Beatles

Sir Paul McCartney's stance: "We were having problems with iTunes – well not iTunes, EMI was the problem – with downloading, which we'd like to do because that's how a lot of people get their music," he told NME.

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Comments

[JohnnyHifi]

10:42 AM on 12/21/2009

Beatles over rated?That's totally idiotic- like Beethoven's over rated too. 1.7 BILLION [ and rising FASTer than any other artist still ] record sales says it all.

[Lochmon]

05:35 PM on 12/21/2009

LOL... I agree with your main point, but the "1.7 BILLION" makes me think of McDonalds.

[Lochmon]

07:19 AM on 12/21/2009

I was surprised to see that Frank Zappa was not on the list. iTunes does have some odd concerts from him (I don't know what licensing led to that arrangement) but his major albums are not available for download. Gail, if you're reading this... get Frank on iTunes! Since he's no longer around, a lot of potential audience needs the convenient exposure to the work of this crazed musical genius.

It's kind of amusing how many artists seem to think that their work should only be available in entirety, on an album. As others here have pointed out that is kind of silly since they are happy to have individual songs played on the radio, "out of context". Meanwhile, Pink Floyd--one of the few bands who have consistently made albums that really are album-length themed works--is available for download by the song or the whole thing.

Oh well. Time for another play of Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea"... an album I never listen to EXCEPT in its entirety.

[ParacelsusTheophrastus]

09:52 AM on 12/21/2009

This was going to be my comment too. Frank Zappa! I would love to hear Let's Make The Water Turn Black.

[ladyfractal]

10:07 PM on 12/20/2009

The solution for people not buying one or two songs on iTunes is to make certain that the whole album is good! It's that simple. There are albums that I bought on CD where *literally* the only thing that made it worth the purchase was one song. I love being able to get the song I want and not the songs the artist or the record company wants me to buy just because they want me to buy it.

Cheers
LF

[songbookz]

08:10 PM on 12/20/2009

The bands in the article are not ones I would listen to, but they seem to be Luddites, dinosaurs. I no longer buy CDs (I don't use iTunes - prefer Rhapsody where I can just "rent" the tunes for a monthly fee. I do buy singles from them and Amazon on occasion of songs I have liked for a long time - with the exception of Classical Complete Symphonies, etc., never buy complete "albums".), don't buy books without a Kindle version available, buy Audiobook downloads from Audible, and am thinking of starting to buy movie downloads instead of DVDs - sell my own music as download only.

I think it really hit home for me when I moved my video shelves into a back room with my bookshelves to make room for the Xmas tree - the amount of music that will fit on a 500g MyBook compared to CD racks - all those CDs, books, DVDs, etc take up way too much room.

[booboo111]

08:35 PM on 12/20/2009

Bob Seger's music is garbage. Why is he upset? No one wants to download his music anyway.

[Eris23]

10:45 AM on 12/21/2009

Just because one don't particularly like to royalty mechanism sites like iStore choose to pay artists doesn't make one a luddite.

[LunaPark]

07:24 PM on 12/20/2009

Since many of these 7 are objecting over variable pricing and whole album sales, I say let the artist decide the pricing and download of whole albums. If I ran Amazon, the iTune competitor, I would let the artist/record label set the price they feel is right in exchange for an exclusive distribution agreement. The market will work out the price. In the meantime, the artists are losing out to pirates who will sell their songs for a price for whoever wants them.

[kwalters]

04:29 PM on 12/20/2009

Mike Rutherford ain't on i-tunes either....no Mike and the Mechanics...

WHY???

AND...if i-tunes isn't paying the artists enough, maybe all the artists ought to get together and boycott i-tunes...otherwise...it's a moot protest...

[MarcEdward]

04:27 PM on 12/20/2009

talk about groups I'd never want to download! If I can live the rest of my life and never hear the over-rated Beatles again, I'd be thankful.

[NeverRepublican]

06:03 PM on 12/20/2009

Over rated... are you kidding? Practically every song they wrote was gold. Read what anyone in the industry says about their music...

You probably have never listened to one complete album... ever.

[MarcEdward]

09:44 PM on 12/20/2009

Actually I grew up in the 1960s and most of my family and friends were Beatles fans. I would agree that for their time, the work was great. But that was long ago. Individually (except for Harrison) the Beatles have produced nothing worth $1 since they broke up. For their time the Beatles were great, but after this many decades, I have no desire to hear them again.
Now it's just old stuff.

[SpiralDenial]

06:03 PM on 12/20/2009

Over-rated?! Wow. The Beatles weren't the best musicians ever, nor individually were they even notable musicians (except perhaps Lennon). But it would be almost impossible to over-rate them as a group or to over-estimate the influence they had on rock music and modern culture. They shaped and defined rock like no other artist or group ever did. To call them over-rated is absurd and either demonstrates a lack of understanding of history, music, rock, or all the above.

[jefered]

04:26 PM on 12/20/2009

This is not a defense of crappy bands with albums full of filler around one or two hits, because God knows there are plenty of them, and they deserve to not get paid.

It's worth pointing out that "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" was, by John Lennon's own admission, a kind of throwaway filler song on Sgt. Pepper's. Sure, we should all spend money only where we want and need to, but isn't there something to be said for living outside of one's comfort zone every once in a while?

[RasAlula]

09:47 PM on 12/20/2009

Its funny you put it that way. Its the best way to put it though. Sometimes trusting an artist and listening to a whole album is a rewarding experience. Unfortunately though, there is waaaaaaay too much garbage out there these days.

[SharonaMonk]

04:08 PM on 12/20/2009

I don't get Garth's complaint. If ALL of the music on the CD is good, then people will buy most/all of the songs. Artists can't get away with putting out one or 2 singles that are GREAT, while filling the rest of the album with sub par songs anymore. I know that must stink_for them, but you can't blame the public for your limited skills/talent.

[ElectricKoolAid]

03:30 PM on 12/20/2009

if TOOL is so intent on creating an album as a whole an dintend to have it experiences as one. then why don't they record thier albums into one total song? it woulds solve all problems here. It's jsut be a very expensive single song download

[SteveSabol]

04:18 PM on 12/20/2009

Because then they couldn't sell singles and get airplay... oh, wait, but that means people will listen to a single song OUT OF CONTEXT!!!! Oh the humanity!!!!

[RasAlula]

09:45 PM on 12/20/2009

Airplay used to mean sold Albums. Airplay was not about playing the music just for the sake of playing it. It was a taste of an ablum.

[Ratfink1]

03:08 PM on 12/20/2009

I see it both ways. Some of the best, or at least my favorite, songs have beeen hidden in albums and never seem to get any air time on radio. Only after listening to the album a few times does the true nature of the music shine through. Admittedly, I have bought albums where 95% of it sucked if you listened to it 1000 times, but that is the exception and not the rule. The hidden gems make the album what it is whereas buying the one song that gets pimped the most on radio obviously cheats the artist out of selling the majority of their work.

[botan]

02:40 PM on 12/20/2009

My only complaint with I-tunes is you can only sample 30 seconds of a song. Napster will let you listen to the whole song before you decide to buy it or not.

[botan]

02:34 PM on 12/20/2009

I love I-tines, I can buy the music I love and want without buying all the "filler" that is on most albums/cds. Aside from Tool and Def Leppard its not much of a loss.

[botan]

02:41 PM on 12/20/2009

Ooops, I-tunes.

[Atra]

02:04 PM on 12/20/2009

Downloading anything off the net for "free" is a misnomer. You need a decent plan with a reliable ISP that has compromise between cost /speed and quota, before you even start. To handle the download and listen to it, you have to bombard your PC with any number of software (codecs, media players). As of XP Service Pack 2, going onto the net without a virus scanner is akin to suicide. Plus running a Malware scanner won't hurt either. All of this is fine if you have a teenage son or daughter, or a friend of theirs whose net savvy, and can show you where to go and what to install. The idea that most groups and music companies have about being able to download content as simply as checking email is ridiculous.

On a side note, the only album I've ever been able to listen from start to finish was Alannis Morrisette's Jagged Little Pill.

[KimberleyC]

12:56 PM on 12/20/2009

I love how all of these old hard rock bands still think they're relevant to demand we buy a full album mostly full of lousy "music." With the exception of the Beatles and (a lesser extent) Bob Segar, these "artists" just scream. That's not music. And no one is missing them anyway.

[Lolly]

02:21 PM on 12/20/2009

Yeah, I love the "we're album oriented" stance, as if that's some sort of esoteric artistic statement.

No, it just means you have to buy 12 crappy songs to get the one good song on the album.

[BebeLush]

12:17 PM on 12/21/2009

AC/DC's Black Ice CD sold a few million copies, proving that they are still quit relevant. They also had one of the biggest selling tours of this past year.