Bee Gees Plan To Stay Alive In Era of Digital Music

In their 1970s glory days, the Bee Gees were an unstoppable musical and commercial force. Today, their catalog appears to be in danger of being forgotten by consumers, reports CNBC.

The group bolstered the 1977 soundtrack of “Saturday Night Fever” a disco cultural touchstone that’s sold 16 million copies in the U.S. alone. The group has also released several other chart-topping albums, but in the current era, compact disc and vinyl versions of many of their classic albums are out of print.

On streaming services, the situation isn’t much better. According to figures from Spotify, the group boasts approximately 6.5 million monthly listeners, putting them at only the number 375 spot on the service’s most-listened-to list. By comparison, such long-defunct legacy artists as the Beatles and Pink Floyd were among the platform’s top 25 most streamed artists last year.

It may not be realistic to expect the Bee Gees to be as popular now as they were four decades ago. But can anything be done to shake things up?

Back in November 2016, a campaign to do exactly that was announced when Capitol Records signed the group to a long-term contract, pledging to “re-invigorate” their catalog. The label has since released the compilation Timeless: The All-Time Greatest Hits, and a deluxe reissue of the "Saturday Night Fever " soundtrack to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the seminal film and album.

Bruce Resnikoff, president and CEO of Universal Music Enterprises, a division of Universal Music Group that handles Capitol's catalog, said that his organization is aware of what they’ve got on their hands — and plans to handle it with care. Both companies are a division of UMG.

“The Bee Gees are a major part of pop music history, known from the early days for their iconic songwriting and harmonies to their evolution to a chart-topping powerhouse group,” said Resnikoff, who’s an avowed believer in the power of classic catalogs.