News > The Beatles
Digital Beatles Clearance Sale! Just Don’t Tell Apple Or EMI
By Johnny Firecloud, November 3rd, 2009
For those of you who’ve been aching for some digital Beatles music, I have five words for you: get ‘em while you can! The Beatles’ entire catalogue is available digitally, at least for now, on a U.S.-based website called BlueBeat.com. If you thought iTunes’ 99¢ deal was great, wait till you hear this: Individual tracks are going for 25¢ each.
[Update: Predictably, EMI filed an injunction which is being honored by BlueBeat. The Beatles songs have been removed.]
The above pic seems to capture the Fab Four in a suspicious moment – don’t Paul and John have that “no, we’re not cutting lines” look, while George seems suddenly interested in what’s happening in the corner? I call white drug shenanigans.
The site is also streaming the Beatles’ recently remastered albums in their entirety, allowing potential buyers to listen to them for free before purchase. Which is great for those who have never heard the Beatles, through some immensely improbably anti-miracle, and want to see what all the fuss is about.
All of this is certainly alarming news to EMI and Apple Corps, who have gone to extreme lengths in the years since the internet took over the world to prevent the sale of all Beatles music in digital format. So this begs the question: Did Apple Corps or EMI grant BlueBeat permission to sell and stream The Beatles’ music?
When contacted by MusicRadar, a source at EMI said, “We’re looking into it,” which they – and we – are taking as “You’re fucking kidding me, right?”
So for the time being at least, if you’re looking to get some Beatles music (or any of hundreds of other artists) on the cheap, BlueBeat.com is the place to go. Personally, I’d expect the site to be nonexistent by week’s end, but who knows? Maybe Apple and EMI’s lawyers won’t care that their sacred cash cow is being milked on the cheap.
Right.
About Johnny Firecloud
Johnny Firecloud's been kickin' names and takin' ass since his first interview in 2001 with A Perfect Circle. You can find more of his rantings over at CraveOnline, where he's the music editor.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Looks like Ringo is saying hurry up with those lines!
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Has anyone tried this? I just can’t figure out why they would give the option to download the mp3 files via Base Beat for a fraction of the cost that they are also offering it to you from iTunes.
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:46 PM
[...] really sure if this website is doing this legally. Calls to EMI and Apple from MusicRadar (via Antiquiet) only received responses like “We’re looking into it.” So before the labels look [...]
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:33 PM
@Patrick:
a) It’s probably illegal (similar to AllOfMP3.com), and
b) The Beatles are not available through iTunes or any other digital source yet, so there’s no way some no-name site would have them first
That’s why the tone of the article is as it is – they’ve found something illegal and are pointing out the ridiculousness of it. This site will be gone shortly and don’t give it your credit card info in the meantime.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:01 PM
what did the five fingers say to the face?
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/11/emi-sues-bluebeat-for-infringing-beatles-copyrights/
incidentally:
“The entire catalog of stereo Beatles albums will soon be legitimately available in digital, albeit physical, form. Apple Corp. and EMI announced the pre-order availability of 30,000 16-GB Apple-shaped USB drives containing 14 albums in lossless 24-bit FLAC (better than CD quality) and 320 Kbps MP3 formats, 13 short documentary films about the albums, album art, “rare photos” and expanded liner notes, all accessible directly or through a Flash player that automatically loads on Macs and PCs.
It’s quite a statement — especially the 24-bit depth of the lossless files, which allows more gradations between volume levels than standard 16-bit (CD-quality) audio files. The only catch — they cost $280. EMI and Apple Corp. plan to release the drives on Dec. 8.”
November 4th, 2009 at 8:19 PM
[...] other news, BlueBeat has already been slapped with a lawsuit by EMI for, as we reported earlier, selling tracks from the Beatles catalogue at 25¢ a pop (plus 30¢ ‘processing’ fee). [...]
November 5th, 2009 at 2:50 AM
hum i think the real news here would be those awesome 16gb pens with the whole beatles catalog on flac AND mp3. this is just dumb