Besides The Beatles, what else could Apple announce Tuesday?

“So Apple’s reportedly going to get the Beatles on iTunes,” Brian Caulfield blogs for Forbes. “Finally.”

So what else might Apple announce Tuesday at 10 a.m.? PiperJaffray’s Gene Munster argues Apple will, finally, launch its cloud-based iTunes services,” Caulfield reports. “The evidence: Apple’s Maiden, North Carolina data center should be nearly fully operational by now.”

Caulfield reports, “And between the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, and Macs, Munster writes Apple will want to link all these devices to a single server-based media service — especially its new Apple TV set top box.”

Full article here.

Au contraire, Peter Kafka writes for AllThingsD, “I’ll be very surprised if it is music related–like a new music subscription service, or even one that lets you stream music you already own to multiple devices.”

“The music industry sources I’ve talked to so far today don’t know of any new deals between Apple and the big music labels,” Kafka reports. “So that would rule out a new subscription service, which would definitely require a new rights deal.”

Full article here.

61 Comments

  1. Their announcement is echoing a great tune by Madness, obviously it’s related to that band rather than Beatles. Maybe a special edition Madness iHat for ska enthusiasts? I’d never forget that.

  2. Beatles? Lame. Who gives a crap about them, and I am 43 years old. Maybe my parents? Not.

    It has to be something totally memorable, like Apple buying Dell or MSFT or Oracle. Or FB or Google.

    But having said that it won’t be the above. He can’t announce that stuff. It has to be approved. So it’s got to be a product or service.

  3. If Apple is going to announce the entire Beatles intellectual property available for free, I honestly don’t know which if my numerous friends would even bother downloading it and some are even musicians. I probably won’t bother. So, I really hope it’s not that. Frankly I don’t even dig Bob Dylan but I know SJ does, so maybe this is a big deal for him. (Lennon is cool but that doesn’t mean I want to listen to the music. Imagine is great but played too much.)

  4. @Mac Daddy et all.

    The Beatles are number 2 for album sales in the last decade. Still. How big is this if its true? Monumental. Collossal. This shifts the pendulum fully into the digital age for music finally. Well deserved thanks if that is the announcement.

    Ignorance from other posters may try and discount this but make no mistake, this is huge.

    Any other announcements will be pure golden gravy to top it off.

  5. As old Beatles fan, i can understand Steve’s joy to have The Beatles songs on air… Yet, people like me already have all titles as vinyl or CDs and, nowadays, i doubt that that kind of music still is of any interest for younger music amateurs.

  6. If it’s just the Beetles, then it’s official: Apple’s using this just to screw with us.

    It would be them finally pushing their media and press manipulation just a little bit too far.

  7. Since this isn’t an attended media event, it must be something that doesn’t require Steve Jobs to explain it. Also, it’s specifically an iTunes announcement. So yeah, I vote Beatles, and 90-second previews. With a possible subscription service (Ouija Elvis says no) and/or streaming (Ouija Sinatra says maybe). Along with the release of iOS 4.2.

    And for the haters out there, if you don’t understand what the Beatles did (and I’m 50, not much of a fan, don’t own one song), you may be ignorant. And I’ll say one thing about them – they’ve got more staying power than almost anyone else. I could literally see a Beatles renaissance, sparked completely by the Beatles on iTunes with long previews – how many songs have been sold that were featured on Apple (mostly iPod and iPad) commercials? And if they can do that with select Beatles music this holiday season, BAM! Instant gold.

    Not to mention the fact that there’s a whole generation of kids whose parents are eager to introduce them to classic Beatle’s (since they have a hard time connecting to today’s music, and the kids will love it just because they’re kids).

    No other iTunes holdout has had this much press (almost 10 years of it, in fact). Not Kid Rock, not anyone.

    You say you want a revolution? Apple’s the company to bring it.

    goo goo g’joob

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  9. Ah, yes. Everyone’s a “hater” if they think this is lame. Actually, the biggest yawns are coming from Beatles fans like me. I’ve got the recent remaster (and previously older) CDs ripped lossless.

    This is a milestone even if it’s late. Maybe some kids will download and listen, which is good. Beat of all, we can put the Beatles on iTunes speculations behind us!

    Btw, I too noticed the reference was more directly related to Madness lyrics–another fine British band. I would celebrate a “nutty boys” iTunes event!

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