It's far from a done deal, but Apple "will do everything we can to get [The Beatles] on iTunes" according to iTunes VP Eddy Cue, "The Beatles aren't available in any digital format today but they are going to be one day. We certainly hope that happens on iTunes." Well, of course you do Eddy... who wouldn't want to be the first outlet for digital Beatles?
Apple has a definite advantage, with iTunes dominating the market by any measure. But what is it really going to take to get Sgt. Pepper in your iTunes Music Store?
``There's a huge gold mine in the Beatles catalog,'' said Russ Crupnick, a music industry analyst at NPD. ``There are tens of millions of people who have never bought anything from a digital store, and when they do the tendency is overwhelming to buy it from Apple Computer. When you think about a premier artist like the Beatles, it may drag some of those other people to buy.''
No doubt, plenty of digital distribution houses are salivating like so many Pavlovian dogs over the thought of "firsts" on selling DRM'ed Beatles tracks. Are "tens of millions of people" salivating back at the thought of buying them?
via Bloomberg
Apple Working To Lure Beatles To iTunes
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. Well put Karl. Maybe he thought it would sound cumbersome if he said..
"The Beatles aren't available in any non-user initiated, digitaly rights managed format today..."
Posted at 4:07PM on May 11th 2006 by Grant Robertson
1. I found this comment to be pretty weird, "The Beatles aren't available in any digital format today..."
What would Eddy Cue call a Compact Disc of "Abbey Road?" I have all the Beatles catalog on my iPod. It's that Import button in iTunes.
Posted at 2:19PM on May 11th 2006 by Karl Brandt