AC/DC back catalogue goes digital

AC/DC, one of the world's most popular bands, has made its entire back catalogue available for digital distribution, it was announced today.

The band, which released its debut High Voltage album in 1976 and recorded 15 albums since then, had long opposed making its music available for download on the basis that downloading individual tracks damaged the traditional album format.

The Australian band is best-known for hits such as Highway to Hell, Back in Black, Thunderstruck and It's a Long Way to the Top if You Wanna Rock 'n Roll.

Speaking ahead of the release of AC/DC's 2008 hit Black Ice, singer Brian Johnson said: "Maybe I'm just being old-fashioned, but this iTunes, God bless 'em, it's going to kill music if they're not careful.

"It's a...monster, this thing," he said. "It just worries me. And I'm sure they're just doing it all in the interest of making as much...cash as possible. Let's put it this way, it's certainly not for the...love, let's get that out of the way, right away."

AC/DC, formed by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young in 1973, is considered to be one of the most biggest influences on hard rock and heavy metal. The band recorded the 1990 release The Razor's Edge in Dublin's Windmill Lane studio.

The band lost its first established singer, Bon Scott, to alcohol poisoning in 1980. Despite considering disbanding the group at the time, Brian Johnson was recruited as a replacement for Scott and AC/DC went on to release Back in Black, the band's most succesful album to date. The record has gone on to sell some 50 million copies worldwide.

In a statement released today, Columbia Records and Apple announced that band’s entire catalogue is now available digitally for the first time for digital download and all of the band's 16 studio albums, along with four live albums and three compilation albums are available. Fans can download entire albums or individual tracks, the statement said.