Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, Multimedia, Rumors, Other Events, iTunes, Apple, Music
Will the Beatles library finally arrive in iTunes September 9th?
The Official Beatles Shop website is showing 9/9/09 as the release date for new, digitally remastered versions of the entire Beatles library. That's also the day that The Beatles: Rock Band is released. What better way for Apple to finally bring Apple Corps into the digital age than to give the Fab Four a home in iTunes?
Of course, the Beatles and Apple, Inc. have had a tumultuous legal history, and recently George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison was quoted in Blender as saying he didn't feel that the iTunes Store's per-song charge was a fair price for Beatles songs. He also mentioned that the remaining members of The Beatles were looking into creating their own website for digital downloads. Given the shaky history of most Beatles business ventures, I wouldn't give that comment a second thought.
Just last month, Sir Paul McCartney told the Guardian that in terms of the Beatles library appearing in iTunes, "The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process... I really hope it will happen because I think it should."
Frankly, I think the music world and Apple both need a little magic right now, so I'm hoping to see Steve Jobs, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Dhani Harrison, and Julian Lennon on stage together on September 9th. That would be even better than an announcement of a Mac tablet.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ken said 12:25PM on 8-19-2009
I love the Beatles, but I don't understand what the hoopla is all about. Doesn't everyone who wants Beatles music in digital form already have it? Is it that difficult to rip a cd?
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Steven Sande said 12:36PM on 8-19-2009
Yeah, my Beatles CDs are the first thing I ripped into iTunes. But the hoopla is that these are digital remasters that have much better audio quality than the 1980s CD masters.
Will they be worth buying? If you listen to some of the remastered music from Love (the Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas), you'd probably agree that the sound is incredible. Of course, many of the recordings are different from the "classics" that we're all used to hearing.
TUAWSteve
bill said 12:44PM on 8-19-2009
Steven, why worry about "better quality" digital remasters when you're just going to download them in m4a format and kill any gains in quality with compression?
Vman said 12:49PM on 8-19-2009
Reasons people will buy it:
1. Convenience: I am making a video and want "I want to hold your hand". No way am I getting off my butt and going to the store, paying for a full album, ripping, etc. Today I'll grab a replacement - if it was available, I'd buy it.
2. Exclusive material: Unreleased tracks or historic interviews added to albums - then restrict to 'Album Only' sales.
3. Re-mastered material.
4. New markets: Either people remembering "hey, I like the Beatles!" - or new sales to younger markets.
5. Hype: We have been told for a long time how cool this would be. When it happens, many will simply respond with "This is COOL" - and buy stuff. This also affects #4.
(01) said 6:13PM on 8-19-2009
Ken, by your logic almost no one would buy digital music...which clearly isn't the case.
Rob E. said 12:29PM on 8-19-2009
I think the Beatles on iTunes is a more predicted announcement than the fabled iTablet. If/when it happens, everyone will be able to say, "I called it." because over the past few years just about everyone has. What will be the go-to prediction then?
But recent news that Apple is responsible for a significant percentage of the music market, combined with the Beatles information presented above does make a compelling case.
But no case is more compelling than the fact that digital is where/how people are buying and that just about everyone but the Beatles is already there. That has been true for a while, though, and doesn't seem to have affected the Beatles' decision making process. But there inclusion in Rock Band does indicate that they might be (finally) looking to be present and available places where the modern consumer is finding their music.
We can hope it's true. I t certainly should be true. But it wasn't true the last several times it should have been true, either. ;-)
Related question for audiophiles: Given that the digital offerings of iTunes are a step down from CD quality, would there be sufficient quality differences in the digital versions of the Remastered CDs to justify buying them vs. ripping the files from the first CD releases of the the albums?
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tofu said 12:39PM on 8-19-2009
Yes!
Sept 9th is all about the music.
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LAGal said 7:15PM on 8-19-2009
has Apple actually issued any invites or is this date all just speculation.
Ken said 12:49PM on 8-19-2009
You're assuming that it's the remastered versions that will be offered. But if you're interested in great sound quality, do you really look to your iPod for that?
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Mike said 12:55PM on 8-19-2009
People don't listen to iTunes music exclusively on their iPods. I stream my music to my stereo via AirPort Express. Also, anybody that is really interested in "great sound quality" isn't buying anything on iTunes anyway. They're ripping their CDs manually into high-quality MP3s or (more likely) a lossless format like FLAC.
Darren said 12:45PM on 8-19-2009
Seems kind of pointless to me. Those 40-year-old recordings have got to be in be in the public domain by now, don't you think?
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Steven Sande said 2:09PM on 8-19-2009
Hell, they ought to be!
As long as the two surviving Beatles are alive, and as long as their spawn exist on the planet, I'm sure we'll be paying through the arse for remasters.
TUAWSteve
TheGeek said 8:12PM on 8-19-2009
Hate to break it to you man but Copyright is Life of the author plus 70 years in most places nowadays.
awerhane said 12:59PM on 8-19-2009
I wonder if this had anything to do with U2 jumping ship to Blackberry..
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Tired_ said 1:01PM on 8-19-2009
Are we just rehashing all of the old Apple rumours now? I hear Apple's working on a phone...
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Howie Isaacks said 1:04PM on 8-19-2009
Big deal! I couldn't care less about The Beatles ever making it to the iTunes Store. Some people act like this is some sort of crusade. I think they sucked. I don't understand why some people can't just get over this, go out and buy the CDs, and rip them into iTunes.
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Gene Cowan said 1:05PM on 8-19-2009
How does Apple get around the Beatle's problem with per-song pricing? Gosh, they could, I dunno, come up with a new album wrapper file format with liner notes and extras... like the rumors have been claiming for some time now.
Maybe iTunes will only sell Beatles albums, not individual songs...
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James Donevan said 1:11PM on 8-19-2009
Not going to happen.
Apple Corps (Yoko, Paul, Olivia and Ringo) is more than happy to have the Beatles on iTunes since their legal wrangles were settled. All four principals have repeatedly confirmed that viewpoint. EMI however controls the recording rights and they cannot reach agreement with Apple Inc on iTunes distribution. If and when EMI and Apple Inc agree terms, it won't be a secret.
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Jabba said 2:29PM on 8-19-2009
Michael Jacksons estate holds the Beatles catalog, every time I see something about the Beatles going to iTunes, theres never a mention of Sony or Jackson.
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ebiss said 1:48PM on 8-19-2009
Does anyone think that the Cocktail concept might begin with The Beatles re-issues?
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