Beatlemania is back as hits become available online for first time
The music of the Beatles is to be made available for digital download for the first time with the launch of a computer game today that allows fans to play along to their favourite tracks.
Retailers are bracing themselves for a new wave of Beatlemania with today’s release of 14 of the group’s digitally remastered albums and the launch of a video game, The Beatles: Rock Band. Record label EMI has already shipped five million albums across the world in an attempt to meet huge demand for the new releases.
The most significant breakthrough in the use of the Beatles back catalogue, however, is a deal that has been agreed to allow users of the new computer game, available on the Xbox, PlayStation and Wii, to download digital versions of three of the band’s albums, as well as individual songs.
The group’s material has never before been made available for download legally, as discussions between EMI, the Beatles’ own record company Apple Corps, and Apple, the owner of the iTunes music store, to take the band’s music on to the internet have been slow to come to fruition.
Ernesto Schmitt, an EMI executive, said: “Discussions are continuing and we very much hope that The Beatles will be available before too long. It is a complex process and we want to ensure that everyone, including the consumer, gets the best out of it when it happens.”
However, from October 19 owners of The Beatles: Rock Band will be able to download Abbey Road through their computer console for about £10, as well as cherry-pick individual tracks from the record, for 99p. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band will go on sale in November, followed by Rubber Soul in December...
Read entire article at Times (UK)
Retailers are bracing themselves for a new wave of Beatlemania with today’s release of 14 of the group’s digitally remastered albums and the launch of a video game, The Beatles: Rock Band. Record label EMI has already shipped five million albums across the world in an attempt to meet huge demand for the new releases.
The most significant breakthrough in the use of the Beatles back catalogue, however, is a deal that has been agreed to allow users of the new computer game, available on the Xbox, PlayStation and Wii, to download digital versions of three of the band’s albums, as well as individual songs.
The group’s material has never before been made available for download legally, as discussions between EMI, the Beatles’ own record company Apple Corps, and Apple, the owner of the iTunes music store, to take the band’s music on to the internet have been slow to come to fruition.
Ernesto Schmitt, an EMI executive, said: “Discussions are continuing and we very much hope that The Beatles will be available before too long. It is a complex process and we want to ensure that everyone, including the consumer, gets the best out of it when it happens.”
However, from October 19 owners of The Beatles: Rock Band will be able to download Abbey Road through their computer console for about £10, as well as cherry-pick individual tracks from the record, for 99p. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band will go on sale in November, followed by Rubber Soul in December...