AC/DC Goes Digital Via Verizon Wireless...WTF?

So Verizon WIRELESS signed a deal to sell all of AC/DC's catalog not 'wirelessly', via cell phones, but only via a PC version of their VCast service. And only complete-album sales for $12 an album. (Oh, except for 'You Shook Me All Night Long', which will be sold separately as an over-the-air download)

This tells me a few things about Verizon and, by extension, the music and carrier industries (and musicians?) as well:

• they still don't get that digital downloads should logically cost LESS than buying a physical disc (see this link for a quick example courtesy of bestbuy.com)


• Verizon is still trying to wring every customer for every dime they can for 'custom ringtones' instead of letting their customers use music that they already own as ringtones; well at least they're not the only ones (I'm looking at you, Apple and AT&T)


• apparently the musicians aren't all quite as savvy as we thought - how does it benefit AC/DC to limit their fans to one outlet for digital purchases of their music? and not the most popular one at that? *cough* iTunes *cough*

I lived through the pain of Verizon and the Motorola V710, which they famously intentionally crippled to disallow users to do what they wanted with it - and they settled a class-action lawsuit because of it. But apparently V-W is still letting greed overcome the fact that their customers do not want to be walled in. *sigh* When will these guys learn?

via [Billboard]