The Beatles finally came to iTunes in November selling more than 1.4 million songs in their first week. Beatles was one of the biggest holdouts in the iTunes scene.
Why?
Apparently the Beatles’ umbrella company, Apple, has had a long time copyright feud with Apple… After legal battles since 1981, the two Apples, along with EMI, the Beatles’ record label, came to an exclusive agreement with iTunes.
But the Beatles are far from the only holdout on iTunes. You still won’t find Garth Brooks, Kid Rock, or AC/DC, just to name a few, on iTunes. And others have just joined in the last few years like Metallica and Led Zeppelin.
While Paul McCartney said that he would like to see the Beatles on iTunes, many of the other holdouts, Such as AC/DC, say that iTunes is “going to kill music if they’re not careful.”
Most of these bands and artist have issue with non-variable pricing and patrons being able to download only certain songs of the album.
Of course, those are some of the aspects of iTunes that patrons like the most. You pay $1.25 for the song you want, and only the song you want.
As a patron I like this aspect myself, but as a writer if by books were to be sold at the same flat rate, chapter by chapter, I would be appalled too.
Do you think that these artists are just delaying the inevitable or do they have a point?
