Beatles Make iTunes Debut

Posted by Brad Hilderbrand on November 16th, 2010

One of the biggest holes in the iTunes catalog has been the absence of The Beatles. The UK band which took the world by storm had, until now, not allowed its music to be available via traditional download services. That has all changed though, as Apple has just announced that the Fab Four are now available via iTunes.

This has actually turned out to be quite a grand debut, as the band isn't bringing a select number of songs to the service, but rather the entire Beatles catalog is available right now, which will surely be musical overload for a number of fans. Basically just envision all those girls shrieking at the concerts all those years ago and you have a pretty good idea how Beatles fans feel at this exact moment. From big hits on albums like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The White Album, to deeper cuts on Rubber Soul, every single track the band ever released is available.

The only caveat to all this is that songs are a bit more expensive than normal if you buy them individually, going for $1.29 rather than the traditional iTunes price of $0.99. While this pricing is fairly standard for major singles from popular bands, you can usually get the deep cuts for under a buck. While true fans will love the fact that they can buy entire albums for $20 (the most cost-effective way to get all the tracks), those looking to experiment with one or two of the Beatles deep cuts may be a bit turned off by having to pay a premium. Some might say that all Beatles tracks are considered classics so the higher price tag is justified, but that's not really the case at all.

Still, this is a momentous day for online music and an even bigger day for music fans. The band that was bigger than Jesus AND Elvis is back once more, and now you can buy them on your Mac, PC, iPod Touch or iPhone and take them with you wherever you go. If that doesn't put a bit of spring in your step then it's hard telling what will.

[via iTunes]