For those of you who prefer the convenience of streaming music on Spotify and Apple Music and are really big Beatles fans, you are about to get a huge Christmas present this holiday season. The rumors of the Beatles coming to music streaming services has become official.
According to their official website, TheBeatles.com , on December 24 at 12:01 a.m. local time, the entire Beatles back catalog will be streaming on multiple music streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon Prime, Slacker, Tidal, Groove, Rhapsody, and Deezer. That also includes Rhapsody’s service, Napster. The suits who control the rights to the Beatles album catalog were one of the last huge holdouts when it came to providing it on streaming services, so it isn’t an understatement to say that fans of The Beatles will be overjoyed come Christmas Eve.
The Beatles have meant a lot to the music industry for many years. Originally coming from humble backgrounds, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison came together in 1957 as teenagers to form the Quarrymen. Later, they changed the name of the band to Johnny and the Moondogs until they changed it to the Beatals as a tribute to American rock musician Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Again changing their name to the Silver Beetles, they eventually settled on the Beatles. Ringo Starr joined the band in 1962 as the drummer. In 1964, the band had already gained a huge reputation in their home country of England and went on a tour of the United States for the first time. On February 9, 1964, the Beatles played on The Ed Sullivan Show,and were watched by 73 million viewers, almost instantly solidifying their legacy as rock icons. The Beatles defined what it was to be a rock band and continue to influence musicians and pop culture in general to this day.
December 24 at 12:01am local time, The Beatles’ music is available for streaming worldwide: https://t.co/99cigizLza pic.twitter.com/42vZSNGVHG
— The Beatles (@thebeatles) December 23, 2015
In the past few years, the music industry has really raged against music streaming services, especially Spotify, which has become one of the biggest music streaming services on the market all over the world. According to TechCrunch, when it comes to active users, revenue, and downloads, Spotify is in the lead on a worldwide scale. Despite this, however, Spotify is still No. 2 when it comes to being the top streaming service in the United States. That honor belongs to longtime streaming radio platform Pandora Radio, which was not listed above due to The Beatles already streaming on there. The reason for that is because Pandora is not an on-demand streaming service.
Some recording artists feel that they and their labels are not getting a big enough piece of the money pie when it comes to revenue generated by streaming services. Pop superstar Taylor Swift has been one of the loudest vocal critics when it comes to music streaming services — especially unpaid or low-paying services.
“But all I can say is that music is changing so quickly, and the landscape of the music industry itself is changing so quickly, that everything new, like Spotify, all feels to me a bit like a grand experiment. And I’m not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music.”
Swift eventually released her 1989album on Apple Music after Apple Music reversed their decision to not pay artists for a three-month free trial period. Swift is not alone in her views, as singer Adele recently shared similar sentiments this week when it came to streaming services. Adele chose not to release her most recent album, 25,on streaming services such as Spotify. In an interview with BBC News,she stated that she knew that streaming music was the future, but that it was not the only way to consume music. She also stated that she couldn’t pledge allegiance to something when she didn’t know how she feels about it yet.
One thing Adele is certainly right about is that streaming music is the future. Streaming music services keep getting more popular year after year, and with The Beatles back catalog finally being released on Spotify and other streaming services, it looks like there is no going back.
[Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images]