I Might Forget Today: The Beatles Finally Come to iTunes

Apple's hype machine went into overdrive yesterday, with promises of an iTunes announcement that would make today an unforgettable day. The announcement? The Beatles catalog is now available on iTunes.

While the addition of The Beatles is impressive, and long overdue, the announcement will hardly resonate as that groundbreaking to most. After all, if you are a big Beatles fan, wouldn't you have ripped the tracks from CD into iTunes long ago? And if you are discovering the band for the first time, are you going to sink $149 into the box set?

A few years back when there were some seemingly viable iTunes competitors, this announcement would have taken on a bigger importance. Today, it feels more like the inevitable. merely came to pass.

A more cynical look at events could see Apple's heavy (and last minute) hyping of the event yesterday as an attempt to steal some of the thunder from Facebook's email announcement. But we won't get into that: we'll just.. Let It Be.

Beatles To Showcase New Format At Apple Event?

For many years now, The Beatles have been arguably the highest profile holdouts from iTunes. Their (technically their rights holders) have shown through agreements like the one with Rock Band, that they are willing to bring the Beatles song catalog into the digital realm.

Couple that with the fact that we've been hearing for some time that Apple is working on a new, more immersive format for iTunes albums, moving beyond simple liner notes. Also keep in mind that the Beatles catalog is in the process of being remastered for a September 9 release, the same date as the next Apple event.

Coincidence? We doubt it.

Apple's "Cocktail" project is rumored to bring together music, behind the scenes video, and interactive liner content. Would there be any better way to pry money from the hands of Beatles fans who already own every piece of Beatles music than with extras that have never been available before. It will also allow Apple to get a huge amount of publicity for the new format.