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Hells Bells! AC/DC finally on iTunes

After years of holding out against downloading, Australian rock icons AC/DC have finally made their songs available to buy online.

Columbia Records and Apple announced overnight that the band's entire catalogue from 1976 debut High Voltage to 2008 comeback album Black Ice can be downloaded via music store, iTunes.

The members of AC/DC, which signed a multi-album long-term deal with Columbia in 2002, have long argued that letting consumers pick and choose individual tracks would diminish the integrity of their albums.

Singer Brian Johnson has said that putting music for sale on the web was just "about making money".

In 2008, founder and guitarist Angus Young said "it's like an artist who does a painting, if he thinks it's a great piece of work, he protects it".

However, with CD sales continuing to fall - especially in AC/DC's biggest market, the US - the rockers have reconsidered their stance.

Before last night's announcement, Accadacca were the only big name hold-out on licensing songs to iTunes. The Beatles made their catalogue available two years ago.

AC/DC have released their first live album in 20 years, Live at River Plate, this week and are apparently planning a 40th anniversary tour for next year.

Fans can buy all 16 studio albums for $149.99 or get the albums, plus four live albums and three compilation sets for $229.99.

The band, whose 1980 hard rock classic album Back in Black is one of the highest selling albums of all-time,has not made their music available to streaming services, such as Spotify.