The Beatles on iTunes

Well, tomorrow is here and according to the clock designated 10AM New York, we're about an hour away from the big announcement. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that today's announcement will bring The Beatles catalog to the iTunes Store, a move that will bring one of music's all-time most profitable franchises to a digital retailer for the first time ever.

The negotiations between Apple, EMI, and members of the band have been an on-going saga that seems to be coming to a close.

The truth is this would be a tepid announcement on Apple's part as more and more customers are hoping for a lot more from the world's largest music retailer (I'm looking at you Lala). It would be great to hear that Apple will allow you to stream your content to any via the cloud, offer a subscription a la Zune Pass, or even just offer iOS syncing via wifi.

Well here's hoping to something with a little more substance.

UPDATE: Engadget is reporting that The Beatles page on iTunes went live about 5 minutes ago. So ummm... yeah get there. Screen cap from Engadget below:

via The Wall Street Journal

Full disclosure: I have purchased The Beatles catalog more than once and would probably buy it on iTunes as well.

ITunes Music Preview Times Now Tripled!

Image hosted at http://maci75.wordpress.com

The iTunes Store truly revolutionized the way we consume music online. Downloading your music was no longer an admission of guilt but rather a proclamation that you were the future of music sales.

Hyperbole? Not really; especially when you consider that the iTunes Store accounts for the majority of music purchases in the US. ITunes managed to do this by offering people a 30-second preview of every song in their catalog allowing you to try before you buy. Now, at least according to TechCrunch, it seems like Apple will be serving up 90-second previews for songs longer than 2-minutes and 30-seconds.

Will this mark the beginning of streaming music direct from the cloud? Probably. I just hope it comes sooner than later because I miss having my music library anywhere I went. I miss lala.

Google's Home Page Imagines a World Without War

Sure the headline is a bit servicey but wouldn't you like to imagine a world at peace. Of course you do you denizen of the interwebz. So go over to Google's homepage click on the doodle for today (10/8/2010) and enjoy Imagine by John Lennon.

In case you're too busy to imagine all the people being as one then check the video after the jump.

Rumor Time: iPod Nano - Touch?

We're two days away from Apple's "Music" event (scheduled for Wednesday September 1st) and that can only mean: more rumors!

We've already glossed over an iPod Touch sporting a Retina Display and dual cameras (for Facetime without an iPhone), 99-cent movie/tv show rentals on iTunes, a more cloud-centric iTunes, and now all but confirmed, a new touchscreen iPod Nano.

Last week Engadget had reported the emergence of a new iPod Nano or iPod Shuffle that was only a 1.7-inch touchscreen. The case above from Alibaba.com suggests that this mysterious micro version of the Touch may be real.

PMB feels it could be a new touchscreen Shuffle as it's about due for a refresh and the tiny, no button interface of the current Shuffle was less than a hit. Also, trading the Nano's video camera (which at the $150 price range) that allows Apple to compete with the Flip camcorder for a 1.7-inch touchscreen would be a step backwards in our opinion.

Alibaba via Engadget

FBI Priorities: First Copyright Infringers THEN Missing Persons

I don't know about you but when I think of the F.B.I. I get images of Dangerous Minds in my head. Some of the country's top cops thinking outside the box, finding dangerous criminals, solving unsolved crimes, and finding missing persons. Apparently that may not be the case; TechDirt reports that the F.B.I.'s to-do list now ranks copyright infringement higher than identity theft and missing persons.

From TechDirt:

Specifically, the FBI has consciously decided to give such cases lower priority in the FBI's laboratory, which is used to look at DNA evidence.

So if ever you're looking for one of the 719,558 people reported missing in 2009, just tell the F.B.I. that they may have illegally downloaded The Hurt Locker and the latest Kanye West album. They may just find them that much quicker.

via TechDirt

Ono says, 'Oh No!'

Originally posted at SilverlingingOpticians

Growing up on of the first gadgets that I became enamored with was my father's stereo and record player. The records the wall unit's recessed shelf became my own treasure chest of classic rock, Motown, Stax Records, and The Beatles.

At this time in my life I was drawn to The Beatles' Yellow Submarine album (I'm sure it was the album artwork - tripping on acid and being 6 are eerily the same) and it instilled a deep love for music. Today, more than ever, I continue to be a Beatles fan as I dabble in music production/engineering - their recording techniques truly changed the way music was made and heard.

So no surprises I've been keeping up with the ongoing soap opera that is downloading The Beatles records legally via an online music store. Well if you've been waiting for the day (as I have), you can pretty much continue to wait. In what I can only describe as an effort to ensure no one will ever be able to make legal digital downloads of the Beatles catalog available to fans (new and old), Yoko Ono again cites an impasse (though never says what it is) in their dealings with Apple's iTunes Store.

Although, to be fair the deal would have to get approval from two living members and the two surviving widows of George Harrison and John Lennon, Ono (Lennon's widow) has been the most vocal of her resistance to making the catalog available for digital distribution. Hell to be honest I'm amazed that Beatles Rock Band ever made it for sale. Time and time again, Ono has alluded to John somehow being against the conversion from physical media to digital distribution (often being quoted as it being "what John would've wanted").

As a music lover, an iPod owner, and having spent too much on more than one "re-release" of the Beatles catalog, Yoko here me out for a second: If John were alive, he'd want a divorce and Olivia Munn.

via 9-5 Mac