Publicity stunts don’t get much more straightforward than this. Pink Floyd has announced that they’ll release their entire catalog on Spotify, provided you listen to their seminal song “Wish You Were Here” one million times. No, really.
It was announced on the group’s official Facebook, and it seems fairly straightforward, although they don’t seem to be terribly clear on whether they mean the song or the album. But we’re talking about Pink Floyd fans; they’re streaming both anyway.
It’s an interesting choice for many reasons, not the least of which being because Pink Floyd, of all bands, probably doesn’t need the streaming royalties. Presumably, they’re trying to get a sense of fan interest before putting what’s one of the more profitable collections of albums out there up to stream for free.
We hope this starts a whole new trend among musicians, although we can see it horribly backfiring depending on the song and the artist. Imagine having to listen to all of Trans to unlock Neil Young’s full catalog, or having to listen to the rest of Hot Space to get at “Under Pressure”…maybe this isn’t such a great idea.
