Apple Strikes Deal to Sell Beatles Catalog Online
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
"While the move to digital does not quite rival the band’s first trip across the Atlantic to appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964, it is an acknowledgment that online purchases dominate the music industry’s sales strategy."
I didn't realize that the online purchasing model was something that still needed acknowledgement, and I definitely don't see how one artist's addition to the iTunes catalogue (even if that artist is The Beatles) is such an acknowledgement.
The only reason I would see a Beatles announcement as worth much is if it signaled that iTunes was going to sell music at above CD quality. At that point I could see some really big time sales.
(I’m 22 and usually listen to Interpol or Arcade Fire or Girl Talk or Jay-Z. My mom was a huge Beatles fan as a teenager but has since then forgotten all about them.)
My favorite obscure tracks are probably Rain and Good Morning Good Morning, but ask me again tomorrow and I'll have some different ones.
However old the fans may be, they sure do buy a lot of music.
And there aren't that many other bands with their entire own edition of Rock Band.
Young reader, you may know the Beatles as a teeniebopper boy band. You've probably seen old videos of them playing sappy pop like "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to crowds of fainting 14 year old girls.
What you may not realize is that they turned into an experimental band that really pushed the envelope of their day, in a way we almost never get to see in mainstream pop music today. (Sadly, almost all the boundary-pushing today is on the indie fringes - great stuff but only heard by people who seek it out)
To try and make an illustration using more contemporary pop acts, imagine if The Backstreet Boys turned into Radiohead and were the ones putting out albums like OK Computer and Kid A. That's kind of like the progression the Beatles took.
Skip the early albums and grab a copy of Revolver.
Glad to see HN has a little bit of a sense of humour!