Two months into Apple Music and still no Beatles. It’s odd because the Beatles have an exclusive downloading arrangement on iTunes. You still can only download the Beatles historic catalog from iTunes and now here else.
A source close to the Fab Four and knowledgeable about their business issues gave me some insight. “I do think you’ll see the Beatles streaming before the end of the year,” they said. “But not exclusively on Apple Music. I think you’ll see it across the board.”
In other words, the Beatles may appear on Spotify at the same time they hit Apple. The group’s solo tracks by John, Paul, George and Ringo are all on Spotify now, so that makes sense. Spotify subscribers (like yours truly) would howl if Apple Music got the Beatles to themselves.
So what’s taking so long? Is it money? “No,” my source insists. “It’s just that things happen in Beatles time. They were the last to go to CD, the last to be downloaded. They will be the last for streaming.”
My source says 90 days from now isn’t unlikely, but Christmas seems like a good target time.
