The Beatles can’t be streamed on Spotify. Neither can Paul McCartney, George Harrison or Ringo Starr. But starting now, the John Lennon catalog, all remastered, is up on the streaming service. Yoko Ono came to some arrangement with Spotify that presumably includes proper payment for pre-1972 recordings like “Imagine” and “Instant Karma.” They’re probably the biggest songs among the 8 albums and three compilations (one of which is a box set that reiterates the 8 albums plus rarities. Good for her.
The Beatles will probably be a different story as they are so tied to Apple and iTunes Radio. Plus all of their music falls under the pre-1972 law, over which the Turtles (Flo & Eddie) are successfully battling Sirius XM and Pandora in court.
Yoko and her advisers are smart, indeed. Streaming has overcome CD album buying and digital downloading. Putting Lennon’s canon into Spotify means a new generation will hear him. I know it sounds so dreadfully old, but I still don’t quite understand this. The magic of getting an album, holding it, reading it, you can’t take that away. I remember when “Imagine” came out… I was sitting on the front porch…whittling…
