Beatles set to go digital

November 12, 2006

The Sunday Times

http://business.timesonli...46,00.html

MORE than four decades after the Beatles had their first No 1 hit, their music catalogue is moving into the digital age, write Paul Durman and Matthew Goodman.
Music fans with MP3 players are to gain access to their repertoire as EMI makes the classic songs available online for the first time.

EMI, which has made a fortune from the Beatles since the band burst onto the music scene with Love Me Do in 1962, is coy about the details. But the music group has dropped the first hint that the catalogue of songs will be made available on the internet.

David Munns, head of EMI’s North American division, told a web-industry conference in San Francisco that the Beatles’ music would be available for download “soon”.

Munns declined to be more specific on timing. Fellow EMI officials refused to comment further or to provide details of how the music would be available.

Any deal would have to be agreed with Apple Corps, the company that looks after the band’s commercial interests. Until now, the Beatles have been one of the last remaining mega music acts whose work has not been sold online.

A new Beatles album, Love, which presents new versions of many of the band’s classic tracks, will be released this month.

They did the same thing when the CD boom first hit. They held out, and held out, and held out, and finally it was a huge event when the CDs finally arrived.

They are shrewd, no question about it.

Took them long enough. If they were REALLY on the ball, they would have offered up the digital files earlier, that way, the Beatles fans who just converted all their CDs to MP3s might have actually BOUGHT. Apple Corps has historically been one of the LEAST business savvy businesses in existence.

Apple lost money initially but they've done nothing but rake it in since the cd's came out, then the Anthologies, then "1" and now Love & downloads. They have a great product and they don't over-sell it. They sell just the right amount to keep it successful

They probably also held out until they were through with the Apple lawsuit.

I don't see them being on Itunes!

I dont really know if this matters much, unless there is going to be something special offered. I cant see The Beatles giving the ok to letting people download songs for 99 cents, plus at this point The Beatle fans have already loaded there iPods with the cds and made their own playlists. So unless there are going to be some exclusives on albums, i dont really seeing this being a really big deal, just because the digital media is evolving so fast im sure something else is coming along to make all this look "old".

lastdecember said:

True, I'm not going to be downloading any of their stuff; I've already got it. But the Beatles are one of the great "singles" bands in history. I think they'll be big in the download world just like everywhere else.

It might not make a huge splash, they'll just be consistent sellers, just like their cd's are.

Are the remasters ready yet?

PANDURITO said:

great joke!

NDRU said:

they definantly sell big in their cd's.. all the best buys around here always get in huge shipments of boxes and boxes of their stuff.. i've never seen so many White Albums at once..

then a month later.. their all gone!

Yeah all the years that i worked in music retail, you'd always get in tons of Beatles catalog, especially during September-December, when sstocking up for the holiday season you would Caselots of all their albums in, and most of it sold, some of it gets sent back after the holidays to the labels for credit.

guitarslinger44 said:

they are re-mastering them and and releasing them digitally at the same time. People will buy them again.

RollingStone.com

It wasn’t exactly Ali-Frazier or Microsoft versus the world. But Apple Corps, the Beatles’ business front, has been locked in a blood feud (of sorts) with Apple Computer over a variety of trademark issues. That’s why we were mildly stunned to hear that the Beatles and iTunes are reportedly close to a deal that would allow iTunes exclusive online distribution rights for the Fab Four’s catalog. One of the first bands to have their music issued on CD, the Beatles have thus far refused to release their catalogue online.

Of course, you probably own all those CDs. (Even Magical Mystery Tour.) But for many — especially fresh-faced downloaders armed with mommy and daddy’s credit card — this is good news. Curious: How many of you would download Beatles songs if available on ITunes?



[Edited 11/27/06 19:15pm]

sources say its only for a limited time, and so far i havent read that they are remastered.

Sdldawn said:

i believe a read an article a while back that indicated that they thought it a waste of time to go thru the trouble of releasing them when they're in the process of remastering all of them. my recollection is that they would be remastered when they show up digitally.

but isn't everything from the early days remastered already via the Capitol Box sets? I'm assuming that series will continue thru the Hey Jude album.

PANDURITO said:

several months ago (maybe even a year ago), it was reported that everything was being remastered for the digital release, and that remastered CD's would follow.

NorthernLad said:

it's "remastered" only if you like those crappy original US tracklists and poor, poor mixes.

KidOmega said:

I would purchase them on cd only... i would assume remastering the tracks, turning them into the 160kpbs wouldn't do much.. not for me..

Does anyone have the traclist to the Hey Jude album?