Online Media Cultist

It’s funny, just last week I dug Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti out of a dusty corner, put it on, and was blown away all over again. While I can’t claim that it was on original vinyl, it was the very first CD that I ever purchased, sometime in the late ’80s. It’s a great record, with some relatively lesser known Led Zep masterpieces such as “Kashmir,” “In My Time of Dying,” and “Trampled Underfoot” to its credit.

And amazing as it seems in this era of iTunes and iPods and bling bling ringtones, Led Zeppeling has just announced that its entire musical catalog will be made available for purchase online for the first time. In fact, the band has decided to go full tilt as 2007 draws to a close (and the band nears its 40th year of existence!) with ring tones provided by partner Verizon Wireless and a reunion concert scheduled for next month.

CrunchGear notes that the timing of this deal may be due to Led Zep co-founders Jimmy Page and Robert Plant settling longstanding differences.

What does this mean in terms of the present and future of music online? Probably not a great deal, but it’s interesting to see that ring tones now seem to be a standard piece of big music deals, and the very fact that a legendary rock band’s wares were not until now available for purchase online is in of itself an anomaly.