"Steve Jobs has his own idea and he's a brilliant guy... There's just an element that we're not very happy about, as people. We are holding out." So says Yoko. And as Yoko goes, so go the Beatles on iTunes.
What's the story here? Well, it's not that you aren't able to download the Beatles catalog—that's always been the case. And it's not that Yoko Ono isn't being super clear with her vision (Plastic Ono Band, anyone?). It's that the stakeholders in Apple Corps are engaged in the most annoying bargaining posture there is. They're playing hard to get (as Paul McCartney did in 2008), hinting that of course they want to have Beatles songs on iTunes, and would, except for... something. That they won't say.
The longer they hold out, though, the weaker their position becomes. Digital music sales are projected to overtake those of physical albums within a couple of years, and iTunes accounts for at least 25% of all music sold in the US. It's not that the Beatles will ever go away. They're timeless, they're classic, they're staying. But the longer they vaguely squabble, the the bigger the barrier to newer generations letting Abbey Road change their lives. [Reuters via All Things D]
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