Being Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, means there isn’t much unavailable to you.
For much of his adult life, I would assume there have been very few things that Jobs has not been able to obtain in one fashion or another.
There was one, however, that evaded Jobs for quite some time. It was a group of young men from Liverpool, and Jobs wanted the group badly. These four talented young men, though world renowned, managed to escape his grasp for six years.
This past week, however, it was finalized, and now Jobs can say he has conquered one of the greatest and most beloved bands of all time:  The Beatles. Apple Corps, EMI and Apple on Tuesday released 13 “legendary remastered” studio albums for the first time ever in the iTunes store.  According to Brave Words, “The two-volume Past Masters compilation and the classic Red and Blue collections are available for purchase and download on iTunes worldwide as either albums or individual songs.”
I can certainly appreciate everything the Beatles have done for music.
However, in my musical experience with this great band, I have not once come across any album called “Classic Red Collection” or “Classic Blue Collection.” This must mean the great people at Apple wanted to make our Beatles listening experiences more memorable by color coordinating and organizing their tracks for us. Thank you so much, guys!
One must assume the sudden release prior to the huge shopping season was anything but accidental. There is no doubt this was a strategic ploy to increase sales leading up to Christmas, but will it work? And, more importantly, does anyone care?
I’ve been through my Beatles stage. I would say much of my education of The Beatles came through the headphones of an iPod, and this was years prior to this recent release.
How did I manage to bypass the Almighty iTunes, and still listen to The Beatles on my iPod?
Well I did what any other self-respecting, average semi-fan would do: I either bought the CD to put on my computer, or I illegally downloaded what I couldn’t find on a CD.
I assume there are a lot of you who took the same route; you and the rest of the millions of fans around the world denied access to The Beatles via iTunes for six horrific years all did the same thing.
This means the majority of fans who want to listen to The Beatles music now already have it, and these days, it’s probably in mp3 format. This is especially true for the die-hard fans.
The people in this demographic would be the most likely to buy the collectors editions. That is, again, if they didn’t already have it, which they probably do. I think it is going to take a lot to convince even the most die-hard Beatles’ fan to buy an expensive, intangible version of something they already own.
Six years ago when the iTunes store was first introduced, a re-releasing of all of The Beatles albums would have probably sold tremendously well. The technology was relatively new,                                                                                                                                            and it was the first real “store” of its kind, especially in the fact that it sold individual mp3s.
Today, however, the technology is, dare I say, dated, but the core program and the way mp3s are obtained and used is still relatively the same. So, in reality, there is no reason to buy these songs again, even if they are “remastered.”
Ringo Starr had this to say about the release, “I am particularly glad to no longer be asked when The Beatles are coming to iTunes…”
I am sure that’s true, Ringo; we are too. Every year since the iTunes’ store opened, there have been rumors of a Beatles re-release, and every year, until now, they have been just that: rumors.
It is my belief that The Beatles, though tremendously important to the development of music, have continued to slowly lose their hipness in the ears of young listeners. It is as cool to be over The Beatles as it is to be into (insert hipster band here).
So go buy something you probably already have.
That is, if you even care anymore.
Micah Green is a junior majoring in communication. He can be contacted at
[email protected].