A piece back I decided I wanted to listen to some songs by the Beatles, so I went to the iTunes music store and typed in their name. Know how many songs were available for download?
Absolutely none.
The Beatles, y’see, (technically, Apple Corps, which is responsible for looking after their copyrights) has not allowed their music to be made available for download.
So I just got the songs I wanted on CD and ripped them.
This is not the first time the Beatles have been behind the technological curve. They were also one of the last bands to make their work available on CD.
C’mon, guys! Don’t stay stuck in the ’60s!
The Beatles, however, are not the only big-name act that hasn’t wanted to allow its fans to be able to (legally) download its music. Others include Bob Seger, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Garth Brooks, and Kid Rock.
But the times, they are a-changin’!
The number of pod people out there has now become so vast that these last few holdouts are starting to recognize that their struggle is futile, and they are beginning to surrender.
Bob Seger and Metallica have now joined the revolution, and the writing is on the wall for the rest of them:
But bands can no longer risk losing out on sales and marketing generated from the digital formats, especially on iTunes, said Phil Leigh, an analyst with Inside Digital Media, a market research firm. With CD sales continuing to drop, it’s only a matter of time until the last holdouts give up, he said.
So, special message for the Beatles . . . YOU’RE NEXT!
I thought Michael Jackson owned the rights to the Beatles’ songs now.
I think he sold them because, well, he needed money.
There’s a particular song from my misspent youth that I dearly want to download, but it’s not available, either. I don’t particularly care for the artist, so I don’t want to buy an entire CD for just one song. Oddly enough, the CD is available for download song by song, although this song is not included.
The song is “Life’s Been Good to Me So Far,” by Joe Walsh.
‘thann
There was recent litigtion between Apple Corps and Apple Computer over trademark to the Apple name. The Beatles lost. There could be some hostility left over. Maybe they will break down soon. After all, the Rolling Stones eventually reconciled with Rolling Stone magazine.
If only they would get rid of the evil DRM so that songs can play on any devices. If people are going to steal songs they will do it via P2P software, people that buy music via iTunes or other services shouldn’t be punished for what they are not doing.
Another gripe about the download services…
“Yes, we have your favorite artist… everything EXCEPT their most popular album/song.”
Just a few days ago, my wife and I were talking about the Beatles absence on the download services. They seem to forget that a lot of the people using these services (young teens) have no IDEA who they are, and not all of their fans are “die hards” who are going to shell out full retail for a special collection or a boxed set.
Good grief, they’re just pop stars.
They are going to muck around and lose a bunch of money.
I want to buy SOME of their stuff, but not all of it. I quite like some of John Lennon’s solo work, but only individual songs… I don’t want to have to buy his more self indulgent crap in order to get the songs I like.
‘thann –
I got some Joe Walsh songs on i-Tunes. I remember “Life’s Been Good” very well. It was all over the radio in the summer of ’78. You should listen to his “The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get” album. It’s what rock SHOULD have been. Instead, we got KISS.
That makes me want for an iPod more butnot for the Beatles;I’m not alive yet then, I like Queen better. (An irony, as i’m not yet in existence when Freddie Mercury died).
Am I the only person left on planet Earth who hasn’t bought an IPod or a Blue…er…BlackBerry?
Please say it is not so.
David B, It is not so! Heck, I only bought my first computer last January. When my horse dies, I might break down and buy a car (just kidding).
bill912,
Well, I’m glad to hear it(he he).
Yes, DRM is very evil, severely punishing the people who are trying to “go legal” (or stay legal, for those who never fell into illegal mp3 downloading.)
I highly recommend http://www.emusic.com and http://www.audiolunchbox.com for purchasing non-DRM mp3s. However, these sites have more limited selection than iTunes.
David and Bill912,
I’m with you guys.
Quite honestly, I think digital did the Beatles a disservice. The CDs just don’t sound as good as the vinyl. I don’t know how to explain it, but the digital remixes lost something vital, to my ear. Compare them, if you get the chance, and I’ll bet you hear it (especially the earlier recordings). Furthermore, I think George Martin heard it, too. When it came time to make the Anthology CDs, Martin got EMI to pull a vintage analog board out of the mothballs and did all the mixing “old-school.” It shows, and in a good way.
When my son’s friends hear me playing Beatles songs, they usually say “Hey, that’s the song from the (insert product) commercial!”
I am with you, too.
I don’t do mp3s… I have always been told to “keep up with the Joneses” but I have always caved in.
I turned in 1300 LPs and 875 8-tracks for 1100 cassettes and now 75 cds but no more.
to me, it is only another way for others to make money off of the same music I have purchased three or four times.
YES… vinyl is much better with analog having higher highs and lower lows but woe to those pops and clicks and ….scratches
then again, I sure miss the days of $4.49 LPs and I will never buy an ME-pod.
David, Bill912, and Suzanne,
Me too.
Tim J.,
I doubt very much many teens have no idea who the Beatles are. I was a teen not long ago.
At least not in the middle-class suburban and rural areas that are my background, I suppose I can not speak for inner-city culture.
Sorry, I forgot to include you Tim M., in the glorious list of non-pod people.
I would like to vouch for vinyl being better, but I havn’t listend to them since I was a little kid.
Funny approximate quote from the dumb TV show “Third Rock from the Sun” “To bad these humans have yet to discover the superior sound of vinyl.”
Funny J.R.R. Tolkien quirk: apparently he hated all “articficial” music (I guess because it lacks the personal component of live music and/or because it is a technological counterfit of human voices and real instruments) and walked out of any pub if they put on the radio.
Is that what he called it? If he did, he was just asking for Philological Objections.
“But, dude, all music is artificial. It’s an artifact, a thing made….”
Bet he said “ersatz”.
J.R. Stoodley,
You’re wrong.
Tolkien, after “exorcising” the machine with some Holy water, recorded several recitations of “The Lord of the Rings” on a friend’s phonograph.
Add me to the NonPod people. We’re really in the Techological Age, aren’t we? What if the Church Fathers were here? I wonder what would they listen on their iPods?
David B, It is not so! Heck, I only bought my first computer last January. When my horse dies, I might break down and buy a car (just kidding).
Posted by: bill912 |
Welcome to the 😉 Brave New World! My own computer has only been here for 2 years. The horse, on the other hand is turning 19 next month. Well, OK, it’s a Chevy. But it really is 19, & I plan to drive it till it dies.(I would name it Dobbin, but that happens to be a family name, & I like to keep my relatives from :-)exploding…)
Lucky You. At least Thank God for computers, horses, and iPods. (Do you mean real horses here? I’ve only seen horses a few times in my life. I saw carabaos more often.)
Nah, it’s just old enough to be considered a nag…It’s a 4 cylinder.
I do see a lot of real horses…This area has some Amish folk, & there are also some people who keep them for pleasure riding.
But my grandmother (God rest her) never learned to drive a car. My grandfather had a car, & she drove the horse & buggy until the horse finally died of extreme old age.
READ THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE!
THE POD PEOPLE HAVE ALMOST FINISHED THEIR MISSION…THEY ARE VERY NEAR TO A TERRESTRIAL LANDING AND ONLY NEED THE FEW OF US REMAINING WARRIORS TO SURRENDER. THERE IS ONLY PAUL, RINGO AND MYSELF AND I WILL NEVER SURRENDER! I WILL DENY THEM THE EARTH AS THEIR STAGING GROUND FOR FURTHER CONQUEST. ARE YOU WITH ME?
TURN BACK THE TIDE…DESTROY ALL YOUR PODS…IT IS NOT TOO LATE! TERRA GO BRAE!!!
David,
I would subscribe to all of their podcasts so I would have something to shove down the deformers throats and locked it in St. Peter’s crypts for when they came into existence.
David,
I tried to make clear that I was only speculating about Tolkien’s motivations for his dislike of radio music which I have heard secondhand from several sources who ought to know what they are talking about.
Certainly Tolkien did not have scruples about recording his voice or brodcasting it on the radio, at least not later in life, and I would point out that a man is permitted to change his views over time so another possible factor here could be that.
There is an interesting 1971 radio interview with him you can listen to on RealPlayer on http://www.geocities.com/misctolkien/interview.htm
though you can tell his mind was sharp as it could be anymore and he is sometimes hard to understand, but a transcript of the interview is also provided.
J.R. Stoodley,
I now know what you meant. I read your post too quickly before responding to you, so forgive me for making a pointless statement.
P.S. Thanks for the link!
BTW, regarding having trouble understanding Tolkien in his interviews, I know exactly what you mean! 🙂
Regarding Tolkien recordings, in my Advanced English Lit class in high school, they played a recording (on vinyl, it being back in 1966!) of a reading of “Beowulf” in the original Anglo-Saxon. For some reason, I have always had the impression that the reader was Tolkien. Anyone know if this is true? If so, anyone know where one could score a copy??