Re:Apple Strikes Deal to Sell Beatles Catalog Online
by sumeetjain on Monday November 15, 2010 @09:47PM
(#1908810)
I get it: The Beatles are huge, and Apple's had a colorful relationship with them. But why does that make tomorrow unforgettable?
"While the move to digital does not quite rival the band’s first trip across the Atlantic to appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964, it is an acknowledgment that online purchases dominate the music industry’s sales strategy."
I didn't realize that the online purchasing model was something that still needed acknowledgement, and I definitely don't see how one artist's addition to the iTunes catalogue (even if that artist is The Beatles) is such an acknowledgement.
Re:Apple Strikes Deal to Sell Beatles Catalog Online
by protomyth on Monday November 15, 2010 @11:10PM
(#1908999)
If you are a Beatles fan you have their music on (much better quality than mp3/aac) CDs. You have probably also ripped the songs to mp3/aac at a higher bit rate than iTunes will sell you (or maybe to a lossless format). Given that, I would expect some second day stories about how much better the CDs are anyway.
The only reason I would see a Beatles announcement as worth much is if it signaled that iTunes was going to sell music at above CD quality. At that point I could see some really big time sales.
Re:Apple Strikes Deal to Sell Beatles Catalog Online
by Dbug on Tuesday November 16, 2010 @02:12AM
(#1909378)
Above CD quality? With 60's material done with vacuum tubes and magnetic tape, CD sampling rates and bit depth won't limit the distribution quality. Of course there are often cases where there's room for noticeable improvement over earlier CD releases, but that's due to better hardware and differences in mastering and other processing.
Re:Apple Strikes Deal to Sell Beatles Catalog Online
by kree10 on Tuesday November 16, 2010 @12:22AM
(#1909162)
AC/DC is still holding out, and probably will as long as the Young brothers are alive. They're apparently so against separating songs from the context of their albums, they've never even authorized a straight greatest hits compilation.
Re:Apple Strikes Deal to Sell Beatles Catalog Online
by Legion on Monday November 15, 2010 @10:39PM
(#1908930)
There's more to explain than that.
Young reader, you may know the Beatles as a teeniebopper boy band. You've probably seen old videos of them playing sappy pop like "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to crowds of fainting 14 year old girls.
What you may not realize is that they turned into an experimental band that really pushed the envelope of their day, in a way we almost never get to see in mainstream pop music today. (Sadly, almost all the boundary-pushing today is on the indie fringes - great stuff but only heard by people who seek it out)
To try and make an illustration using more contemporary pop acts, imagine if The Backstreet Boys turned into Radiohead and were the ones putting out albums like OK Computer and Kid A. That's kind of like the progression the Beatles took.
Skip the early albums and grab a copy of Revolver.
Re:Apple Strikes Deal to Sell Beatles Catalog Online
by ugh on Monday November 15, 2010 @10:20PM
(#1908878)
You are definitely missing something if you are not checking out the Beatles. Their more well known stuff has been repeated to death but they have a huge catalog with tons of great songs you have never heard before. I like Tomorrow Never Knows and In My Life.
(I’m 22 and usually listen to Interpol or Arcade Fire or Girl Talk or Jay-Z. My mom was a huge Beatles fan as a teenager but has since then forgotten all about them.)
Re:Apple Strikes Deal to Sell Beatles Catalog Online
by dotBen on Tuesday November 16, 2010 @01:40AM
(#1909316)
I just gotta say when I wrote my original comment I thought I'd take a beating on the karma points as often my 'wise-crack' quips don't go down so well.
Glad to see HN has a little bit of a sense of humour!
Re:Apple Strikes Deal to Sell Beatles Catalog Online
by InclinedPlane on Tuesday November 16, 2010 @03:12AM
(#1909479)
The Beatles have already embraced MP3, last year's release of the box set also saw a limited edition USB key containing FLAC and MP3 versions of the songs.
"While the move to digital does not quite rival the band’s first trip across the Atlantic to appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964, it is an acknowledgment that online purchases dominate the music industry’s sales strategy."
I didn't realize that the online purchasing model was something that still needed acknowledgement, and I definitely don't see how one artist's addition to the iTunes catalogue (even if that artist is The Beatles) is such an acknowledgement.
http://twitter.com/holman/status/20483293633
The only reason I would see a Beatles announcement as worth much is if it signaled that iTunes was going to sell music at above CD quality. At that point I could see some really big time sales.
Young reader, you may know the Beatles as a teeniebopper boy band. You've probably seen old videos of them playing sappy pop like "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to crowds of fainting 14 year old girls.
What you may not realize is that they turned into an experimental band that really pushed the envelope of their day, in a way we almost never get to see in mainstream pop music today. (Sadly, almost all the boundary-pushing today is on the indie fringes - great stuff but only heard by people who seek it out)
To try and make an illustration using more contemporary pop acts, imagine if The Backstreet Boys turned into Radiohead and were the ones putting out albums like OK Computer and Kid A. That's kind of like the progression the Beatles took.
Skip the early albums and grab a copy of Revolver.
(I’m 22 and usually listen to Interpol or Arcade Fire or Girl Talk or Jay-Z. My mom was a huge Beatles fan as a teenager but has since then forgotten all about them.)
My favorite obscure tracks are probably Rain and Good Morning Good Morning, but ask me again tomorrow and I'll have some different ones.
However old the fans may be, they sure do buy a lot of music.
And there aren't that many other bands with their entire own edition of Rock Band.
Glad to see HN has a little bit of a sense of humour!
http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-USB/dp/B002VH7P4O