Elton John signs entire back catalog exclusively to iTunes...

[V. Barbarino]

NOICE! I have his triple cd it's amazing, a must own!


... until May.

Elton John announced this morning that his entire back catalog will be available for download on March 26. "I've wanted my music to be available for digital download worldwide for some time, but I knew that the entire catalog—not just the hits—needed care and attention to be released in this way. Now that it's happening, I'm pleased for the fans' sake," said Elton John in a statement.

This will consist of 30-something albums and 400+ tracks of smooth, Elton John-y goodness, starting with his 1969 album Empty Sky. Almost 40 years of his musical career will be online, exclusively through iTunes through April 30. After April 30, John will presumably make his music available via other download services, although he did not specify which ones.

The announcement comes at the same time of the release of his new compilation, Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits. It will also come around the same time as the singer/songwriter's 60th birthday. "The world has certainly changed since Philips Records issued my first single on seven-inch vinyl—39 years ago this month," John said in his press release.

This move by Elton John is exactly what everyone expected The Beatles to do with their entire back catalog, once it comes online. However, Apple Corps recently confirmed that while they intend to take the entire catalog online eventually, they plan to launch on all of the online services at once and not go exclusive with iTunes—even for a short period of time.

Despite the Beatles shying away from this marketing method, it seems that John has a lot of confidence in iTunes being the exclusive platform for his music through the end of April. We may expect to see other seasoned artists make similar decisions in the months and years to come, hoping that perhaps some of their older songs might strike a new hit with the iTunes crowd.

You go, Elton.