Label Dispute Forces Def Leppard To Cover Their Own Back Catalogue

Legendary British metal act Def Leppard are covering their entire back catalogue in response to a label dispute that has kept their material off digital services.

Signed to a 1979 record deal with the Universal Music Group that is ancient by today's standard, there is no allowance for digital distribution. With the band and the label unable to come to an agreement -  the label own the recordings but need the band's permission to put them up for sale digitally - the band have opted to re-record their back catalogue so they'll at least own versions of their hits which they than then license.

Speaking to NPR this week, lead singer Joe Elliot said they're not enjoying the situation.

"We're trying to wrestle back all control or as much as possible," he said. "We're not enjoying it - but they've got to come to the table with some kind of reasonable proposal, which they haven't done, so we shall go in the studio and have a bit of fun."

In total, the band will look to re-record about 180 songs which they'll make available on iTunes. They've started with Pour Some Sugar On Me and Rock Of Ages ,the latter to coincide with the new Rock Of Ages feature film.

"We don't want them to say it's better or it's worse, we want them to say it's the same," Elliot said.

The band will have complete control over the new recordings and Elliot says that other bands need to continue the trend of doing so.

"I think artists need to wrestle back their careers and the ownership of their stuff. It's fair enough we all signed a deal with the devil when we signed to some corporate label when we were teenagers and stuff, but you learn as you go along... I hope many other bands take our lead. We're not the first to do it, by the way. We may be the ones getting all the publicity for it but there's hundreds of people who've done this in the past."

On a reaction from Universal he said, "I wouldn't know. They don't talk to us. Here's the thing about a record company: The people that were there when we were what you might call [at the] top of our game - '88, when we were building the building that they are now currently working in, which was paid for pretty much by our sales and some Bon Jovi albums - they couldn't get enough of us. They were nice and they would come and visit and they would ring you up and take your phone calls. After a while some of them leave, they get better jobs, they retire, they get pregnant, they go away.

"We're still there, but the regime that's running the company changes. They don't like the deal because they're paying you too much, they think. We're thinking they're not paying us enough. And there goes the grand game of chess between corporate and between them and us basically - the ones on the top floor and us on the pavement."