Beatles on iTunes – three out of four ain’t bad


16 Aug 2007

It was easy enough for Apple’s iTunes to get Paul McCartney on board what with him being as omnipresent as Starbucks, but getting the back catalogue of the legendary John Lennon is a feather in the iTunes cap.

George Harrison may soon be joining his ex-band mates as his widow recently told reporters that talks were in the offing but there is no sign of Ringo bringing his unique talents to the iPods of millions, unless you count Thomas the Tank Engine.

What Apple has never been able to place in its online music store is the music of the collective Beatles owing to the ongoing dispute between Apple and the Beatles’ record company also named Apple.

The Lennon collection of 16 albums, along with the collaboration with wife, the John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band, is available free of Digital Rights Management (DRM) meaning than instead of the original 99c per song, customers will be paying €1.29 for these high quality, unlocked MP3s.

A welcome addition but it still leaves the most popular online music store lacking the music of one of the most iconic bands of all time.

By Marie Boran