Apple iTunes Beatles Announcement: Who Cares?

on November 16, 2010 at 11:08 AM

Rumors were right, this morning Apple announced the music of The Beatles is now available for download on iTunes.

Oh happy day for Steve Jobs and Beatles fans everywhere, right?

Well, perhaps not quite so happy for Apple's marketing folks who put in so much time and energy creating buzz and anticipation for the big announcement. There were countdown clocks and clues teasing everyone into speculating about just what their big announcement would be.

Only when the hour finally arrived, it fell a little flat ... as iTunes had all the music ready for download about 30 minutes before Apple made its announcement.

Oops, a little premature jump of the warm gun there?

Admittedly, it's kind of funny to see such a massive fail, and one can only wonder whose heads are rolling up at Apple right now.

But really, is The Beatles on iTunes that big of a deal to deserve all this hype?

It doesn't quite seem to live up to the promise that today is a day "that you'll never forget," now does it? It's quite unlikely that one day your children are going to ask where you were when The Beatles music finally became live on iTunes.

The music of The Beatles is indisputably amazing -- dispute it if you want, but it is. You may not love it, but it was history making, legendary stuff. So it was a little weird not to have it available on iTunes.

But it was also kind of cool that it wasn't on iTunes.

It wasn't convenient that when my daughter really NEEDED to hear "Hey Jude" over and over and over that I couldn't just download it to my iPod and had to bust out my CD. But I also felt like it kind of gave the Fab Four some sort of respect they deserved, that it set them apart from all the others out there turning out tunes.

So yes, being able to get any song on a whim with a click is convenient, but it's not going to change anyone's life.

Any true Beatles fan would already have all the albums/CDs downloaded to their iPod anyway.

It seems like a bit more of a coup for Steve Jobs who finally got what he wanted than anything else.

Of course, that doesn't mean that I might not have already, perhaps, maybe, downloaded "Let It Be."

Do you think the announcement about The Beatles on iTunes deserves all the hype?

Image via iTunes

About the author Julie Ryan Evans

can be found writing from coffee houses wherever she may be. The quality of her days is largely influenced by the seat she nabs and whether a protein plate is available.

Filed Under: in the news, electronics, music, web

Comments (14)

lovinangels

on Nov 16, 2010 at 11:19 AM

Yeah, I don't get what the big deal is. I'll forget pretty quickly...So they made thirty-forty year old music available on itunes? whoopty-freakin-do.

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Nonmember comment from Kevin

on Nov 16, 2010 at 11:50 AM

I totally agree. People who want it most likely already have it, people who don't want it most likely don't care. As it may be true, I might never forget about the day when Apple created hype for no reason once again, they act as if people have been living without Beatles music for years. Sorry Apple, Prince Charles got engaged, nobody cares about you right now. xD

nagyordog

on Nov 16, 2010 at 11:54 AM

Yeah don't get the hype, guess you have to be 50+ to feel the emotional value of the new avaialbility. I mean how hard was it to load a CD into your computer, import it and then transfere it to your MP3 device?

Facebook comment from Mark Scott

on Nov 16, 2010 at 12:37 PM

@Kevin -It's Prince WIlliam, but yes, you are correct about the bs anti-climax. Kind of like the Segway announcement. After all the speculation of a personal anti gravity unit, it turned out tobe a 2-wheeled gyroscope. Yawn.

hoticedcoffee

on Nov 16, 2010 at 1:00 PM

Yeah, Apple is waaaaay out of touch with making a day we'll never forget. Yawn.

Facebook comment from Daniel Villwock

on Nov 16, 2010 at 1:10 PM

If you wanted the Beatles apart of your iTunes library before today all you had to do is go down to your local music store and buy a cd. Then you take it home, put it in your computer and iTunes will make it part of your library.... So what is the thing that I will never forget? The fact that apple made a fool out of themselves 11/16/2010.

Facebook comment from Andy Evans

on Nov 16, 2010 at 3:59 PM

Apple: *huge incoming iTunes announcement* Me: So we can finally import DVDs into iTunes? :D? Apple: LOLWUT NO WE'RE PUTTING TEH BEATLES IN WHEN THEY SHOULDVE BEEN IN LIEK 8 FRIKKIN YEARZ AGO AINT DAT SO AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Me: ._.

bleuidgramma

on Nov 16, 2010 at 5:14 PM

The Beatles hit the USA when I was in high school. I thought, "Geeze, these foreigners are knocking all of the American artists of the chart. Bah, humbug, etc." Then, I started listening more and more, learning that McCartney and Lennon had written songs sung by American artists, but not nearly as well as the Beatles did them. They kept progressing and writing and becoming more sophisticated in their production, instrumentals and song writing. Turns out, Lennon & McCartney were considered geniuses. They might not seem like a big deal today, but millions of people of all ages still enjoy their music. The Rolling Stones have been famous too, but not nearly as popular as the Beatles. If a person doesn't think it's any big deal, that's okay.....because millions of people across the world will never forget them fand still love them. I'm very excited and happy that their music is more readily available. My personal opinion. Everyone's entitled to one or two opinions.

coffee.crisp

on Nov 16, 2010 at 5:52 PM

I LOVE the Beatles. I mean, I LOVE them. And I really don't give a hoot about this big announcement. (I'm also a huge Mac geek, by the way.)

Seriously? A day I'll never forget? Hmm.

Nonmember comment from Mike

on Nov 28, 2010 at 11:36 PM

I think few saw the news as anything exciting partly because for the last year or year and a half, we've been bombarded with Beatles references left and right. From Beatles reissue vinyls, remastered cds, best of compilations, the Beatles Rock Band game...and let's not forget that just about every indy-rock band that gets played on a commercial sounds vaguely like the Beatles. Who wants to refute me? Its gets to a point where you get sick of hearing about them. They've definitely had their backs patted a lot in the last 45 years...and more specifically, in the last 3-4 years by the early-mid 20-somethings cruising around riding a 'fixie' in dayglo shades and zany-hued skinny jeans. Aside from that, the Beatles are a legendary band who deserve much respect, just..let's keep it reasonable. This feels like dating a girl who believes in celebrating half anniversaries or wants to throw up a Christmas tree before Thanksgiving is over. The band is really getting pimped, its sad