Beatles catalog to reach Apple's iTunes by Valentine's Day?
Compelling evidence has surfaced that 1 Infinite Loop and Abbey Road are almost ready to bury the hatchet, as both Apple firms drop hints that they may at last bring the legendary music catalogue of The Beatles to iTunes.
Potentially ending decades of pent-up animosity, Apple Inc. and record label Apple Corps may be on the verge of announcing a crucial deal that would give the Cupertino-based iPod maker the first shot at online distribution of Beatles songs, according to discoveries made by Electronista.
Citing a source speaking with Beatles news outlet Abbey Road Best, the technology news website claims that the once bitter opponents have mended fences and are preparing an exclusive campaign that would further cement iTunes' position at the apex of the online music industry.
Under the terms of the purported deal, Apple Corps would make at least some of the British rock group's music collection available through iTunes on Valentine's Day, providing a convenient means of promoting the band's recent Cirque du Soleil project, Love. The deal would not only grant Apple Inc. one of the most coveted distribution agreements in modern music history, but would also afford the company a valuable weapon against its challengers, according to the report.
Additionally, it was reported that iTunes would become the exclusive home of the Beatles' online music library for a three-month period, delaying the CD release of newly remastered Beatles albums in the process.
The news, while to be taken with a grain of salt, gains momentum from Steve Jobs' recent Macworld keynote address. The Apple Inc. chief executive recently piqued the interest of many avid Mac and iPod followers by making seemingly continuous use of The Beatles material in the music sections of both his Apple TV and iPhone demos, leading some to believe that he was deliberately stoking the fires of existing rumors linking The Beatles and iTunes.
Conspicuously, Jobs scrolled past a "My Beatlemania!" playlist and at least one Beatles album when browsing songs on the Apple TV set-top box. He also played two songs from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band -- complete with high-detail album art -- while showing the iPhone's music playback functions. Lastly, keen-eyed viewers pointed out the disproportionately large number of Beatles albums in the iPhone's music library.
While the notion of the two Apples settling their grievances has seemed implausible in the wake of Apple Corps' embarassing legal defeat at the hands of its Californian rival, reports since the completion of the lawsuit point to a sudden willingness on the part of the Apple Corps to sign an agreement.
In November, Fortune magazine made the initially audacious claim that the two vocal opponents would put aside their differences to bring The Beatles to both iTunes Store and iPod ads in one fell swoop.
For those who haven't yet seen the Macworld keynote rebroadcast, photos of The Beatles' influence on the presentation are available below.
Potentially ending decades of pent-up animosity, Apple Inc. and record label Apple Corps may be on the verge of announcing a crucial deal that would give the Cupertino-based iPod maker the first shot at online distribution of Beatles songs, according to discoveries made by Electronista.
Citing a source speaking with Beatles news outlet Abbey Road Best, the technology news website claims that the once bitter opponents have mended fences and are preparing an exclusive campaign that would further cement iTunes' position at the apex of the online music industry.
Under the terms of the purported deal, Apple Corps would make at least some of the British rock group's music collection available through iTunes on Valentine's Day, providing a convenient means of promoting the band's recent Cirque du Soleil project, Love. The deal would not only grant Apple Inc. one of the most coveted distribution agreements in modern music history, but would also afford the company a valuable weapon against its challengers, according to the report.
Additionally, it was reported that iTunes would become the exclusive home of the Beatles' online music library for a three-month period, delaying the CD release of newly remastered Beatles albums in the process.
The news, while to be taken with a grain of salt, gains momentum from Steve Jobs' recent Macworld keynote address. The Apple Inc. chief executive recently piqued the interest of many avid Mac and iPod followers by making seemingly continuous use of The Beatles material in the music sections of both his Apple TV and iPhone demos, leading some to believe that he was deliberately stoking the fires of existing rumors linking The Beatles and iTunes.
Conspicuously, Jobs scrolled past a "My Beatlemania!" playlist and at least one Beatles album when browsing songs on the Apple TV set-top box. He also played two songs from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band -- complete with high-detail album art -- while showing the iPhone's music playback functions. Lastly, keen-eyed viewers pointed out the disproportionately large number of Beatles albums in the iPhone's music library.
While the notion of the two Apples settling their grievances has seemed implausible in the wake of Apple Corps' embarassing legal defeat at the hands of its Californian rival, reports since the completion of the lawsuit point to a sudden willingness on the part of the Apple Corps to sign an agreement.
In November, Fortune magazine made the initially audacious claim that the two vocal opponents would put aside their differences to bring The Beatles to both iTunes Store and iPod ads in one fell swoop.
For those who haven't yet seen the Macworld keynote rebroadcast, photos of The Beatles' influence on the presentation are available below.
Comments
Don't have any Beatles stuff at the moment, so this will be wonderful... IF THEY ALSO RELEASE IN JAPAN.
I'm having trouble imagining the scenario wherein Jobs just decides to throw a bunch of Beatles stuff into the iPhone demo for the hell of it.
Please be true!
Don't have any Beatles stuff at the moment, so this will be wonderful... IF THEY ALSO RELEASE IN JAPAN.
Enough about Japan already!!
Keep in mind Steve doesn't really say things on a whim when he does one of this keynotes. An example of this is the joke about the 4000 latte's, afterwards it was spotted on his notes at that pulpit. If he prepares his jokes, you can rest assured everything else he did and said was prepared too, as always.
If he prepares his jokes, you can rest assured everything else he did and said was prepared too, as always.[/B]
Minus his clicker going wrong and suddenly jumping into a story about him and Woz, unless.......
- how else would Album Art get on the iPhone unless they (Apple Inc) had the rights to it?
Even the name change is a sign that things between the two companies are more amicable now
- the original Apple Computer name was deliberately chosen to differentiate the company from Apple Corp
But I must admit that I hadn't considered that the Woz story was a 'plant'!
Never mind iTunes, I cannot wait for the remastered CD's (since I already have every CD after 'Rubber Soul')!!!
Hopefully the remasters won't be compressed which seems to be very popular these days:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ
Well, even standup commedians prepare their jokes, so it isn't that suprising.
Exactly!
And the mark of a great performer is to make something that has been thoroughly rehearsed look spontaneous!
If you're going to point to that segment as evidence, it's just the existence of high-res, properly formatted album art and the obvious sign that Jobs' sample iPhone was preloaded with several Beatles albums, not just one or two.
Eagled eyed AI member, and fellow iTunes keynote subscriber and watcher "Ireland" (that's me) has solved the final piece of this puzzle. I have conclusive proof that Apple have indeed signed an agreement with the Beatles to make their music available through iTunes. How you ask? Simple. It was something Jobs said 43:00 minutes into the keynote, and it just occured to me what it really meant. He touted the quality and beauty of the Album Artwork, but particularly when point out the Beatles Sargent Peppers Album; "Look at this gorgeous album artwork here!" Well if the Beatles' songs wont be available on iTunes, and artwork of songs or albums you rip can only be downloaded if the songs are (or will be in Apple case) in the iTunes Store. Then why would Steve be touting Album Artwork provided by a third party? To me anyway, this clearly shows that he was referring to the Artwork he was pointing at because it was good quality, but most importantly because it was from iTunes, i.e. from Apple.
Keep in mind Steve doesn't really say things on a whim when he does one of this keynotes. An example of this is the joke about the 4000 latte's, afterwards it was spotted on his notes at that pulpit. If he prepares his jokes, you can rest assured everything else he did and said was prepared too, as always.
Minus his clicker going wrong and suddenly jumping into a story about him and Woz, unless.......
You guessed it! Woz has also signed and his next Album with HQ art work will be on the iTunes store by Easter.
Wow, I didn't realize that Apple was so popular in China. Look at all those Apple circuit boards, they must have sold billions of Macs there.
Why those <expletive deleted> GP wankers! Well there's more than one way to skin a GP cat!
They done changed their "Green My Apple" image, I liked the previous one, if you've seen it, it was a graphic of a Granny Smith apple a la the Apple 2007 graphic that was out prior to MWSF07.
Why those <expletive deleted> GP wankers!
They done changet their "Green My Apple" image, I liked the previous one, if you've seen it it was a graphic of a Granny Smith apple a la the Apple 2007 graphic that was out prior to MESF07.
Yeah I noticed, had to change my entire post
Well they better get those Beatles songs up there soon, or all the original fans will have died of old age and be unable to buy them.
That hurt