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Artist News: More Flight Data On Led Zeppelin's Mothership; Zep Goes Digital

Posted on Monday, October 22 @ 02:33:28 UTC by nightowl

With the release of Mothership less than a month away, Led Zeppelin has announced several big updates today [Oct 15] regarding their music and fan interaction with the band. For the first time ever, Led Zeppelin fans can purchase their music digitally, as well as ringtones through Verizon. Lastly, the Led Zeppelin Myspace page is now live, so be sure to check it out!!!

Led Zeppelin's catalog is among the most enduring bodies of musical composition to come out of the 20th century -- and now it's coming to the 21st. As one of digital music's final holdouts, the band's illustrious catalog is one of the most highly anticipated digital releases to date. Beginning November 13, the band's original albums will be available for full-album or a la carte download from all online music retailers.

The albums being made available include Led Zeppelin (1969), Led Zeppelin II (1969), Led Zeppelin III (1970), Untitled fourth album (1971), Houses Of The Holy (1973), Physical Graffiti (1975), Presence (1976), The Song Remains The Same (1976; recently remixed and remastered for reissue on November 20), In Through The Out Door (1979), Coda (1982), How The West Was Won (2003), and Mothership (available November 13). Featuring such indelible anthems as "Communication Breakdown," "Whole Lotta Love," "Immigrant Song," "Stairway To Heaven," "D'Yer Mak'er," and "Kashmir," these releases, together with various retrospective collections, have sold more than 300 million albums worldwide.



"We are pleased that the complete Led Zeppelin catalog will now be available digitally," said Jimmy Page. "The addition of the digital option will better enable fans to obtain our music in whichever manner that they prefer."

"The Led Zeppelin catalog is a highly anticipated and essential addition to the world's leading digital music services," said Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group. "In their 12 years together, Zeppelin created one of the most powerful, influential, and timeless bodies of work in the history of modern music. They not only enjoyed enormous commercial success, but their ground-breaking musical innovation transformed the cultural landscape. We have been planning for this landmark day for a long time, and we look forward to expanding Led Zeppelin's presence across a full array of digital platforms."

Over 25 years after disbanding, Led Zeppelin continues to inspire generations of fans. The September 12 announcement that the band would reunite for a one-off concert in honor of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun created unprecedented demand as an estimated 80,000 fans a minute attempted to access the concert's official website to register. More than a million fans attempted to apply for one of the 10,000 tickets available in a random drawing for the band's first concert in over 19 years at London's O2 Arena on November 26.

Announced earlier this year, on November 13, Atlantic Records/Rhino Entertainment will release Mothership, a 24-track, two-CD comprehensive collection that spans their 12-year career. All eight of the band's classic studio albums are represented, with the tracks being personally selected by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones. Originally released in 1976, The Song Remains The Same soundtrack album of the concert film features songs from the band's three-night stint at Madison Square Garden in July 1973. On November 20, The Song Remains The Same soundtrack gets the deluxe reissue treatment, with the band members overseeing the remixing and remastering of the original release. The new version of the soundtrack includes six songs that were not on the original release, plus new liner notes by Academy Award-winning director Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous).

Formed in 1968, from the ashes of The Yardbirds, guitarist Jimmy Page brought in Robert Plant, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones and toured as The New Yardbirds. In 1969, their self-titled debut was released and is regarded as one of the most important rock records ever made. Led Zeppelin went on to become the colossal rock icons that we know today, setting new records along the way for fan attendance at their gigs and record sales.

Universally recognized as one of the most successful, innovative, powerful and influential bands in modern music, Led Zeppelin continues to be honored for their pivotal place in music history. In 1995 they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, and were awarded with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm in 2006.

Led Zeppelin/Verizon Wireless Partnership:

Verizon Wireless and Led Zeppelin today announced they have partnered to provide mobile customers with an entirely new way to access the legendary rock band's music. Verizon Wireless will be the first mobile music service provider for ring tones, ringback tones, alert tones, and wallpapers, as well as full-song over-the-air downloads, offering customers infinite ways to personalize their phones and express themselves. Full-song downloads will be available on November 13, 2007. The band's catalog includes such landmark songs as "Rock And Roll," "Kashmir," "Communication Breakdown," and "Stairway to Heaven."

"Led Zeppelin is the greatest rock band ever and their music transcends generations," said David Dorn, senior vice president of e-commerce for Rhino Entertainment. "We are excited to be working with a forward thinking partner like Verizon Wireless to offer the group's legendary catalog of recordings across the entire spectrum of mobile products to longtime fans, as well as new, young fans discovering the band for the first time."

"Verizon Wireless is proud to be the exclusive over-the-air retailer of digital downloads from Led Zeppelin," said Ed Ruth, director of digital music at Verizon Wireless. "We are thrilled to deliver this anxiously-awaited catalog to existing Led Zeppelin fans, while also helping a whole new generation to discover this classic rock for the very first time. All of this on the one device people never leave home without -- their mobile phones."

In 2004, Verizon Wireless became the first national wireless company to offer ringback tones; since then, the company has introduced unique artist relationships with classic rock legends and pop icons, highlighting cutting-edge music services that encourage music discovery, such as V CAST Song ID. Since 2006, Verizon Wireless has built a massive full-song mobile music store with more than 2.1 million songs from mainstream and independent artists that customers can download over-the-air with V CAST Music, or to a PC and sideload to their phones. Today the company delivers more than 30,000 ring tones and 30,000 ringback tones that customers use to personalize their phones.

Led Zeppelin was formed in London 1968 and was the highest grossing touring band of the seventies. Their concerts, often three hours in length, were legendary. With over 300 million albums sold worldwide, Led Zeppelin's boundary-shattering music remains timeless and their enormous energy undiminished. More than two decades after their last concert together, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, will reunite for a one-off concert on November 26, 2007 in honor or Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun at London's O2 Arena.

For more information on how to download and rock Led Zeppelin on V CAST Music-enabled phones, fans can text ZEP to 8901. For more information on V CAST Music from Verizon Wireless, visit www.verizonwireless.com/music.

Posted in Album Release News