Ringo Starr catalog now available from Apple’s iTunes Store; Beatles next?

&t”RIngo Starr’s post-Beatles EMI catalog goes up for sale digitally today, making him the third Beatle whose solo catalog has become available on digital retailers such as… Apple’s iTunes Store. Starr’s EMI catalog, which includes four albums released between 1970 and 1974, joins the rest of his catalog in those online stores. Today also marks the release of a new compilation CD from Ringo under the EMI banner to promote the online offering, the first time the drummer has been with the British music giant since his Beatle contract ended in 1975,” Richard Driver reports for BlogggingStocks.

“The solo catalogs of Paul McCartney and John Lennon have been for sale for three months and two weeks, respectively,” Driver reports.

“Rumors continue to circle that The Beatles catalog itself may be issued by the end of this year or sometime early next year, but nothing has been confirmed or denied,” Driver reports.

Starr’s Top Ten iTunes Store Songs are currently:
1. It Don’t Come Easy
2. Photograph
3. The No No Song
4. Octopus’s Garden
5. You’re Sixteen, You’re Beautiful and You’re Mine
6. Photograph
7. Bang the Drum All Day (with Todd Rundgren)
8. Yellow Submarine
9. With a Little Help from My Friends
10. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (with Peter Frampton)

Via iTunes Store: RIngo Starr

Full article .

29 Comments

  1. When they added John Lennon’s catalog, I thought, “Maybe they’re adding them one Beatle at a time, before the rollout.” Now I really think so. If Apple Corps actually has its shit together (always doubtful), that would mean a George Harrison catalog release next month, and then the Beatles in late October or early November, in plenty of time for Christmas. We’ll see.

    (I like the Beatles because they’re popular and time-tested — just like a matte iMac screen.)

  2. Mozart and Beethoven are pretty ancient, but the music still holds up well, is popular, and sells. Same with the Beatles. You guys nay’saying these developments don’t understand the cache iTunes would obtain with the Beatles catalog, especially if it is exclusive. Yeah, most of us already have the music from CDs but that is really not the point. God knows Beatles music is better than anything being produced today. (Sounds like my Dad talking about Benny Goodman, ouch.)

  3. What really brings value is the possibility of only buying the tracks that you like. As it stands now, your options are:
    1-Download Illegally
    2-Buy the entire CD

    I would not mind getting a couple of the songs that are not commonly played on the radio.

  4. Note to those young people who think they are being cool by dissing The Beatles as “so last century”:

    The genius of music is that it comes in many forms and speaks to the soul and spirit of all mankind. I love Mozart, The Beatles and Linkin Park — it all moves me.

    Maybe, one day, you’ll drop your juvenile prejudices and appreciate the vast spectrum of music. In the meantime, your posts simply make you look stupid and narrow-minded.

  5. Now that we are done feeding the trolls…….

    This does bode well for at the very least the Beatles catalog online. Funny that they did John and Paul first then Ringo and then George. Marketing wise I think the hype would have been better doing Ringo, George, John and the Paul.

    Then BANG Beatles exclusive for x-months. Beatles iPod.

    But the order may be determined by negotiations, I have heard that George (and his estate) have always been spikiest to deal with.

    Obviously Paul has new music coming out and this does well for his sales to be on itunes. John’s music continues to sell and as long as the check is big enough Yoko is game. Ringo has a much smaller catalog as does George. So less incentive for them therefore less leverage.

    Any Beatles launch would be best left for an iPod refresh.

    New iPod + Beatles = INSANE BUZZ & MASSIVE HYPE

    So now the big question. When the launch?

    Apple Expo Paris would make sense as it is after the Back to School iPod promotion and nice stage to make the announcement. But they may wait until mid October to ride the wave through the holiday season.

    (For those of you pissed that I didn’t put John last, Paul has a bigger catalog of non-Beatles songs. John died tragically and never got the time to live up to his potential)

  6. @back-on-topic

    I agree with your point about Harrison’s people being spiky. I’ve felt for a while that it is Harrison’s estate that is holding up the final green light for The Beatles to get on iTunes. Nothing definite, just some little comments made by Olivia Harrison etc.

    Not that they will stop the move. I think there are some final details – not necessarily having anything to do with Apple – that the Harrison estate is still working on with the Beatles label and/or other stakeholders.

    But I’m purely speculating.

  7. @LightenUp — No, no, no; absolutely wrong. Symantec-virus-warning-for-OS X wrong. When Anthology Iwas released, it showed to all posterity what a relatively wimpy, lifeless drummer Pete Best was. Ringo, while not flashy, was rock-solid in timing and hit much harder, and was well-suited to the relatively simple song structures and energy of the Beatles’ early work. He progressed right along with them, later producing drum parts such as on “Rain” and “A Day In The Life.”

    As for his solo career and choice of song material — well…

  8. People who say that “the Beatles are so last century” are the same sort of myopic morons who think that all the “good” music began on their 13th birthday. Yes, that’s right. You are the centers of the universe.

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