For true music fans it’s going to be a very good Christmas, because the one wish they have had for many years is finally coming true: The Beatles hits songs are coming to streaming services on Christmas Eve, 2015.
Just a few days ago, Billboard reported that The Beatles might be releasing their music to one or more major streaming services, but it took a couple of days before other news sites managed to get this confirmed.
Many years people had been wondering why The Beatles songs were not available for streaming and the demand for their presence on these platforms increased with each passing day.
Keep in mind, The Beatles have sold over 600 million records and are still considered to have been crucial to the development of pop music. They have always remained one of the top selling acts each year and Beatles fans have been known to still play at least 30 minutes of Beatles music a day.
Earlier this year, Taylor Swift took a stand against streaming services’ low pay towards artists. I, personally, could count myself lucky to get 1 cent per play. As a very small artist with hardly any plays, the simple truth is that having my songs on streaming services actually costs me money and there’s no money to make there.
However, it’s the getting paid per play that could add up for big artists, even or rather “especially” when they are classic artists like The Beatles. Just do the math. When the hard core Beatles fan would start playing 30 minutes of their music a day, that would be 10 songs per fan x a few cents in revenue.
But, alongside, The Beatles will also reach a whole new audience. I, myself, will also start playing The Beatles whenever I feel like it now, because I, who’s never been buying their albums, will be doing so, because I get free access to their songs on Spotify. Yes, The Beatles will also release their music to the freemium accounts.
As much as they may not want to slow down any physical music sales, The Beatles felt the pressure to reinvent their strategy anyway. And it could very well impact the sales of cds in a positive way.
It may have taken a while for them to get on board, but the Beatles remaining members weren’t born yesterday. They can see a good thing when it happens and right now, they are the talk of the town. Not bad for a group that has split in 1970.
