Here’s the link to the official press release about The Beatles on iTunes (from the MacDailyNews)
Suddently, that’s it. After numerous articles and years of speculation, quickly, efficiently, The Beatles are officially online. So much for past assertions (from “knowledgeable sources”) that there was too much rocky history for Apple and Apple to ever do a deal. Maybe The Beatles were just waiting for Apple to become the world’s most valuable technology company.
Whatever the case, while the non-collectors can now easily and officially add particular Beatles songs to their digital listening , fan discussions will advance (in much smaller numbers) to the next level of digital issues, moving from “when” and “how” to the inevitable “why” and “what about” topics, such as:
- Comparing this digital offering of Beatles material with previous official packages: In addition to the Beatles box set released as part of the 09/09/09 promotion (which fans could rip and use for portable listening), there was the Apple USB Beatles collection from last year and the selected individual tracks from the Rock Band game.
- Wondering when items not in the original “Beatles Canon” (such as “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” or The Beatles at the BBC) will join the line-up.
- Wondering about the mono versions (apart from those included and so identified, as on The Beatles 1962-66 set).
- Then there’s — (well, take your choice on hot button fan preferences).
The big news, really, is just as CDs truly became mainstream in the late 1980s when the Beatles catalog (Mark I) hit the shelves, so too the mainstream dominance of digital has lost one of its last headline holdouts.
Naturally, The Beatles individual songs command the higher $1.29 price tag. Even including the George Martin Yellow Submarine instrumentals. Guess it’s all in the company you keep.
The official press release of course includes representative quotes from all the parties, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono (noting John Lennon’s 70th birthday), Olivia Harrison (“Bravo!” on behalf of George Harrison), Steve Jobs, and EMI’s CEO Roger Faxon. All part of the big announcement.
Oddly, I don’t need any of this. I stocked up at the 09/09/09 release. But I will be checking out the lure of the “free till the end of the year” streaming of “Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964.”
And I’ll be awaiting the track-by-track online reviews that are sure to follow.
Copyright 2010 by Walter J. Podrazik
Walter "Wally" Podrazik 
When I saw the official press release, one of my first reactions was, “I wonder how long those quotes from the four Apple directors have been in the hopper, waiting to be popped into the press release.”
For us old fogeys who prefer the physical product, anyway, this is not a big deal but it does make the music available to a more casual mass audience that just likes individual songs and will cherry-pick the ones they like, something considered total heresy to many hardcore fans.
But the real treat in this iTunes rollout is the streaming video of the Feb. 11, 1964 Washington Coliseum concert on the iTunes Beatles page and included in the iTunes version of the 9/09/09 stereo box set. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the complete show, taken from the closed-circuit telecast master and in much improved audio and video quality. Even for those of us who have seen various versions of the show, this is a treat!