The Beatles have finally come to iTunes.
Hooray — and who cares?
John, Paul, George and Ringo are possibly the most exemplary analog musicians of all time, and they’ve never been a good fit for the digital age. Witness their dozens of reissues, remasters and remixes that began with the advent of CDs and have continued through the inventive (but relatively low-selling) “The Beatles: Rock Band” game.
It’s practically a blueprint for how not to jump into the digital realm, and it’s created a bewildering number of versions of their music. That, and most Beatles fans long ago ripped the Fab Four’s music to their MP3 players, despite the illegality of it.
So what’s the big deal?
It comes down to money. The Beatles have sold more than 30 million albums in the past decade, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and the band was previously operating under the assumption it could make more from physical media sales than digital.
Plus, the Beatles’ management company, Apple Corps Ltd., and their record label, EMI, had been fighting on and off with iTunes parent Apple Inc. for three decades. The 2007 resolution of their trademark spat was more notable for the evaporation of long-term rancor than any artistic advantages it has created. Watching the Beatles come to iTunes now is a bit like watching two lawyers embrace each other, exchange money- filled envelopes and call it a triumph for the common man.
“The biggest beneficiary here might be EMI,” said Simon Buckingham, CEO of online media retailer . “They could certainly do with a little bit of a sales jump, given their debt.”
iTunes is already the world’s largest digital music retailer, so folks in far-flung places will certainly benefit from the one-stop shopping. In fact, anyone who wants to download the Liverpudlians’ entire catalog — 13 studio albums, from 1963’s “Please Please Me” to 1970’s “Let It Be,” plus B-sides, the “Past Masters” album and various making-of materials — can do so now for $149.
But the Beatles’ music and image are already here, there and everywhere in popular culture, practically negating any new iteration of their creative output. Despite the media fanfare, the Beatles’ transition to iTunes is more of a marketing gimmick for repackaged oldies than a revelation.
Thanks, Apple, but no thanks.
John Wenzel
