“After years of litigation and ill will, it took two men just a couple of hours to hammer out the basic terms that would finally bring the Beatles’ music to the iTunes Store,” Ethan Smith reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“The deal was outlined by Jeff Jones, chief executive of the Beatles’ corporate entity, Apple Corps Ltd., and Roger Faxon, CEO of EMI Group Ltd., which owns and distributes the band’s recordings,” Smith reports. “The meeting took place at the EMI’s London headquarters this past July 14, less than a month after Mr. Faxon took the reins at EMI.
Smith reports, “Under the terms, Apple Inc.’s digital media store is the Beatles’ exclusive online retailer at least until January, Mr. Faxon said in an interview Tuesday, after the much-awaited deal was announced. It marks the first time that Beatles songs have been available for digital-download sales.”
Read more in the full article here.
Yeah. And I still don’t care.
Has anybody not already downloaded them illegally?
To be correct, WSJ is ignorant: EMI Group does NOT own Beatles’ recordings, it only orders manufacturing (if applicable) and distributes in all media.
EMI has exclusive copyrights which were given by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC (half owned by Sony and the late Michael Jackson) through long-time contract.
I’ll admit… after seeing the Apple home page, and watching that concert, I felt like I wanna buy a few songs.
These songs were great in their originally published day. But to want to listen to them now is really living in the past. Give me a current John Digweed Transitions Mix any day over these old tines.
In honor of my favorite Beatles tune ever, and a comment on the past 24 hours, I purchased “Tommorrow Never Knows”.
Now let’s all just relax and float down stream..
For me (50ish), I voted a #2 on the MDN poll. I think the Beatles waited too long to do this. They are becoming less relevant every day.
The “golden oldies” types are slowly thinning out (as is my hair) and I think FutureMedia hit a serious note
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@FutureMedia
According to your logic Beethoven,Mozart,
Bach,Wagner are all not worth listening to
because their stuff is old.
@ daugav369pils: By FutureMedia’s logic, then Britney Spears produces only masterpieces.
Nah. Judging by at least half the comments today, Britney is already part of the golden oldies too.
John Digweed? What, is Moby too déclassé for you?
“These songs were great in their originally published day. But to want to listen to them now is really living in the past.”
Yeah, those has-been hangers-on Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorák, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Bach, Strauss, Wagner, Sibelius and many others have pretty well worn out their welcome too. Living WAAAAYY in the past. These cheap classical music nostalgia acts should take a hike too, eh?
If it ain’t Baroque, don’t fix it…
I bet Apple will announce sales numbers tomorrow. Over a million songs downloaded in 24 hours.
We’ll see.
@Daniel… I haven’t. This may come as a surprise to you, but some people actually have principles that prevent us from living our lives under the childish notion that we should be able to download any song or movie we want without paying anything for it.
Look up “ethics” in the dictionary some time.
My wife and I went and saw the show Love in Vegas last year. I forgot how much I loved the Beatles. I think it is great that apple is finally able to offer there songs in a quick and easy online format like all other music. BUT.
My question is this why the big fight . If anyone is a threat to music it would be Youtube. You can hear just about any song you want , make a play list and pipe it threw your house without spending a dime. The Beatles music is no exception. How is it that Youtube is allowed to offer this service without ,what seems be, no fight from anyone. I would think that this would be a big hit on sales. Not just to cds but to radio as well. I can listen to music without any adds and I can pick the play list.
Still with the Beatles crap? Please let this story be over by tomorrow.
If Apple wanted November 16th to be a day I’ll never forget, they should’ve released iOS 4.2 already.
Now yesterday, after watching Mike Vick on Monday Night Football, THAT’S a day I’ll never forget!
R2,
Yah boy!!!
Cubert is right.
All you fuck-wit holier-than-thou-I-don’t-give-a-shit-wise-acres are forgetting is, what YOU want no-one, especially Apple, cares about. They are running a business.
Every news agency world-wide is carrying this story. Good for Apple? You bet. Good for business? You bet. Good for share-holders? You bet.
And, as it happens, their music will still be here long after you are dead.
Can’t happen soon enough.
@DeRS: Before you throw around charges of ignorance, you should learn the difference between songs and recordings.
Michael Jackson owned (part owned) the rights to the Beatles songs, not the recordings. That means that he had no control over which CDs could get produced. Apple Corps owned the recordings.
Jackson’s rights to the songs earned him royalty payments whenever any version of the song, including cover versions, were sold or performed. But the actual recording of the Beatles performing — that was not his property.
It’s a pet peeve of mine when people talk about Michael Jackson owning the Beatles “songs” and how that means any new pressing of the CDs had to go through him. Nothing could be further from the truth.
——RM
What Childermass said… without the profanities.
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Fantastic! The Beatles are now on iTunes!
Hurrah, and all that to those who care and to those who don’t.
..and now …. (cue trumpeters)
…..finally …. (drum roll)
Life can go on *without* some media hit-monger predicting The Beatles will be released on iTunes every time Apple makes a vague announcement.
i hate the beatles
all modern commercial music is a direct result of those mofos
Goo-goo-goo-joob!
@ radio
“i hate the beatles
all modern commercial music is a direct result of those mofos”
Bravely and brazenly spoken by one so ill informed. C-Rap, Hip-Hop and the like are craptastically non-Beatles inspired.
Also I have to ask with all of every style of music genre currently being produced what exactly is missing? What variation oh wisely musical one would music have gone if the Beatles hadn’t arrived, who were influenced by those before them?
Too old and too late.