iMportance

Finally The Beatles are available on iTunes. I'm very surprised at how many people (especially on Twitter) seem to be commenting on this like it is a boring announcement, that it's insignificant and irrelevant. In my opinion, that is a million miles from the truth. Rather than try and bat people off with various 140 character answers, I thought I'd stick my argument in a post here, in case anyone wanted to read.

The most significant part of today's announcement has very little to do with iTunes at all. The first line of this post may very well have read "Finally, The Beatles are available on the internet" because, up until today, they weren't. Even if you don't like The Fab Four, you cannot deny that they are one of the most successful bands of all time, and that their influence has shaped modern music in ways only a handful of artists have managed to. It must also be said the the internet is the most important new distribution tool for all media, and as we've seen illustrated by the industry's knee-jerk overreaction in the last ten years, especially music. Up until now, it was impossible to (legally) obtain any Beatles music on the internet. "Who care, I've got all the CDs" seems to be a popular argument, but I think we can all see that's very narrow minded. It is worth mentioning that iTunes is now the world's largest music retailer.

When did you discover The Beatles? I'm guessing the majority of you didn't catch them first time round. So when? 10 years ago? 20? 30? Was it on vinyl? Tape? CD? Just because we've all had their music for years, let's not forget about the children (and adults) who have yet to experience them. And everyone should give them a go. Some kids don't go to record shops anymore. To be honest, I don't go nearly as much as I used to. And a lot of people don't by music on physical media. Should they not be given access to the whole range of music out there?

The Beatles are part of our cultural heritage and rank among the most important artists Great Britain has ever produced. For once, Apple is right with all its fanfare - we should be celebrating the massively expanded availability of probably the most important body of work in popular music. Everyone should be glad that more people in more places will have the opportunity to engage with something so wonderful, not brushing it off as a boring announcement. If anyone out there thinks this is less important and exciting that the unveiling of a new Macbook or iPhone, then I'm sorry, but I think you're priorities are completely out of whack.

This is a great day for music. The only thing that anyone should be berating is that this catalogue has never been available over the internet up to this point.

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