Surprise, Surprise, the Beatles are now available on iTunes. While many won’t care or already have the Fab Four in digital format, the addition of this popular 60’s band to its digital catalog is a major coup for Apple and music aficionados alike. This is the first time any of the Beatles music has been made available for purchase in a digital and downloadable format.
After a long battle with EMI and Apple Corp (the company founded by the Beatles and the one behind Apple Records), Apple made the Beatles catalog available in album format as well as a song-by-song basis. Each album will be available for minimum $12.99 and the Beatles’ entire box set is available for $149. Individual songs will be available for $1.29 each.
These negotiations may pave the way for other hold-out artists to join iTunes. In addition to the Beatles, other long-standing artists that have turned away from iTunes include Kid Rock, Tool, AC/DC, and Garth Brooks. Though each artist has a reason for not joining the world’s largest music retailer, most of the dissension stems from a lack of album-only downloads as well as Apple’s refusal to set variable prices for artists based upon the popularity of their work. Anyone else expect these other hold-outs to join iTunes or will we have to wait until pigs fly to snag a digital copy of Back in Black?
[Via iTunes]