Spotify has acquired the rights to the catalogue of Led Zeppelin as the streaming music service continues to add classic acts to its roster and lock out competitors from featuring popular artists.
The news, initially reported by The New York Times, was announced at Spotify's event on Wednesday. It is the most high-profile rights acquisition since Spotify brought Pink Floyd to its service earlier this summer and added Metallica's category later last year.
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Led Zeppelin has been one of the major holdouts from the streaming music industry; he has sold more than 111 million records, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The agreement marks another victory for Spotify as it seeks to maintain its market lead on smaller competitors such as Rdio and Rhapsody, which will now have no chance of featuring Robert Plant's soaring vocals or Jimmy Page's violin-inspired guitar theatrics.
While a few major artists, such as AC/DC and Tool, have yet to join Spotify, the rights for The Beatles remain the industry's elusive golden goose. Michael Jackson famously owned half of the rights to The Beatles music, while Sony/ATV Music publishing owned the other half. However, Paul McCartney may be able to take back the rights in a few years due to copyright law.
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