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Beatles to arrive on streaming services at midnight tonight
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 23 December 2015
So, as expected, music legends and popular luddites The Beatles will finally arrive on the streaming platforms at midnight tonight.
In something of an opposite to the exclusivity deal we previously expected the band to do with one streaming platform, they will appear on pretty much every service at the same time, including Amazon Prime Music, which has a much more limited music catalogue than most of its rivals.
Despite freemium streaming having been increasingly criticised this year, including by Universal Music – which now controls the Beatles catalogue in partnership with the band’s own company Apple Corps – the fab four’s music will be on the freemium levels of services like Spotify too.
While we’ve been expecting The Beatles to arrive on the streaming platforms for a while now, it’s interesting that the band’s people have decided to embrace the entire sector in one go. It’s presumably further confirmation that streaming is set to become not only a significant revenue stream for the recorded music sector, but the significant revenue stream.
With the festive timing, Universal and its digital partners may be hoping that The Beatles’ arrival on Spotify et al might turn older and more mainstream consumers onto the streaming platforms, just as they are trying out their new devices and are spending more money than usual.
The services getting some Beatles action at midnight are: Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play, Microsoft Groove, Napster/Rhapsody, Amazon Prime Music, Slacker Radio, Spotify and Tidal.
And the albums that will be streaming are: Please Please Me, With The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles For Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles, Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, Let It Be, The Beatles 1962 – 1966, The Beatles 1967 – 1970, Past Masters (Volumes 1 & 2) and 1.
