I have added this to my favorites, fantastic work….

Am I excited about iTunes getting the Beatles? Yes, and it’s basically because that means we are according to rumors, three months away from having the disc in our hands. I like cover art and I like having a solid object when it comes to music. It’s the tactile part of me. In contrast, I have found tracks on iTunes which I never would have known I wanted. I was able to pick out three tunes from the Cure I just had to have which I never owned and one song I didn’t know they had recorded. I was able to find a track from Jonathan King, (early producer and friend of Genesis), “Everyone’s Gone To The Moon” and I was able to add something to my collection folks have clamoured for for years from Chubby Checker, the original Twist from the original recordings!

What makes me excited is perhaps there will be a time when the Beatles more experimental tracks will be available as download because the cost to make one file that people buy as they wish, versus making a whole campaign like launching the American mixes collections (which are outstanding!) you can now maybe get the Beatles Christmas messages? They were orignally in mono and released only to club members on flxible discs as a membership thank you. So, the iTunes version would certainly reveal much more clarity and be a cheaper alternative to actually releasing a CD, although I have written many times requesting such a CD over the years. So, maybe this way we may get tracks they created but didn’t like themselves or alternate takes galore which we can buy ala carte? This way, we have access to their vaults so to speak, without marring their legacy by putting out inferior product. It will be more like what artists do today by offering samples or alternate versions on the web sites.

But, as a life long Beatles fan since being born in 65, I can say I will be waiting for the CDs and or DVDs to come out, but I’ll sample their work via iTunes and I won’t worry as 99 cents isn’t a lot to pay when you get what you want. But if they only ever off Sgt. Pepper in mono on-line, I won’t let that stop me from buying it as a downloaded album. Once you make a CD from the files, you can reimport them into iTunes. They sound lovely! So, I don’t know why people are so bent over DRM where Apple is concerned. Also their compression scheme is made by Dolby and I have a-B compared the full AIFF files and the AAC files and can’t hear a difference. I am sure when it comes to headphones sitting and intently listening I can. But most of the time when you listen to music, it’s in a car or while doing something else or through tiny computer speakers or tiny ear buds which sound just fine. We used to have to listen to AM radios or cassettes (gasp, I never liked cassettes aside from convenience before CD players were in-dash in the car) so why complain about the vast selection of songs you can sample at a click of a button? It’s actually become quite easy to click on a tune and buy it for a buck than to get in my car and try to remember every song I ever wanted to own when I get to the store and find a parking spot etc…

That’s my 2 cents.

My guess: they’ll likely do the same thing here: release the albums via iTunes (hopefully still the UK releases) remixed and remastered over the course of the year. Once that’s done, they’ll do the CD and 5.1 releases.

Paradoxically, I hope we also get a chance to hear some of the mono versions of songs like Paperback Writer/Rain and of Sgt. Pepper. If you’ve heard these, you’ll know they’re very different from the stereo versions released on CD in ’87.

Time will tell, but I can’t see the Apples (and EMI, who still rake in millions every year from owning the Beatles masters) letting this anniversary roll by. “It was twenty years ago today…” and all that.

This is a big deal, as it means you will be able to hear the Beatles without tape hiss, without sonic generational loss from bouncing 4-track mixes to make room for new overdubs, and with fresh (and minor) equalization of tracks to better blend together. The last step, remastering, will hopefully bring the overall mix levels of the Beatles tunes up to better compete with modern levels without resorting to compressor and look-ahead limiter abuse (common with mastering engineers these days).

If Apple has first rights to these remixed and remastered tracks for any period of time before CDs and DVD-Audio disks are released, Apple Inc and Apple Corp stand to make a mint.

Granted I agree, I’d rather get a CD and rip it myself, but iTunes is the 4th top reseller, so I think its clear lots of people don’t care bout the DRM. Especially considering most of these people use them on their iPods anyways.

Apple Computers inc. – Apple inc. – Apple records inc.?

Example: It still amazes me how a band can be made overnight once they are featured as the iTMS free music download.

Now, if the remasters are iTunes exclusives, well then that’s just MEAN.