Pink Floyd ‘Wishes You Were Here’ 1 Million Times to Unlock Music Catalog on Spotify

There are those who feel classic rock should remain a relic accessed only in its original format (i.e.. on vintage records lying on music store shelves) and not through modern means such as streaming services like Spotify. Pink Floyd happens to be one of classic rock’s greatest bands yet they wish you were still back there, too, as opposed to reality, the here and now, an era of free streaming and often pirated digital music. Pink Floyd has been a prominent holdout to modern music services but recently struck a deal with their fans and Spotify to release their full catalogue if, and only if, listeners stream the song “Wish You Were Here” 1 million times.

The group made this announcement on their Twitter feed last Friday:

Help stream Wish You Were Here 1 million times to unlock Pink Floyd’s catalogue on @Spotify: http://t.co/PpNjKAm3AX #floydcountdown

— Pink Floyd (@pinkfloyd) June 13, 2013

The track recieved more than 100,000 plays in the first 24 hours of the tweet. With so much activity in so little time, fans shouldn’t expect to wait much longer to enjoy Pink Floyd’s full collection via Spotify.

The band has been pretty reluctant to distribute their music through modern and digital avenues. In 2010, Pink Floyd fought EMI Records (who owns parts of the Pink Floyd catalogue not including Dark Side of the Moon) to sell individual tracks as opposed to full albums on services like iTunes. Despite their efforts Pink Floyd lost that battle. Dark Side of the Moon, the band’s most popular album, has sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

Metallica, another old school rock and roller, was also a critic of digitized music. They held off on streaming their music on Spotify until 2012. Other notable Spotify rock holdouts include the Beatles, AC/DC, and Led Zeppelin, and they continue to stand their non-digitized ground.

PINK FLOYD – “Wish You Were Here” (remastered)

Are you a Pink Floyd fan? Make sure to listen to “Wish You Were Here” on Spotify to help unlock their album! Or do you think it’s unfair that bands are being forced by their record labels to join the digitized musical era?