The Beatles releasing full catalog digitally... via USB

[onehandle]

Source: Yahoo News

Apple Corps (that's the other Apple) and EMI Music announced Wednesday an upcoming release of the entire Beatles' catalog digitally, in 320 Kbps MP3 and 24-bit FLAC formats. The tracks won't be available in iTunes, or any other online store in fact (at least not legally).

You can only snag them if you buy one of 30,000 limited edition apple-shaped USB sticks. It's the same remastered Beatles tracks that were released on CD back in September, but the new USB stick offers these, uh, exciting features:

1. You only get the stereo option, not the original mono versions
2. You get to pay $280, while the The Beatles Stereo Box Set costs just $180.

Of course, the apple-shaped USB stick has numerous advantages over the CD set, like being apple-shaped, for example. Just as the box set did, the stick will include 14 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicas of the original album art, rare photos, and expanded liner notes.

Read more: http://tech.yahoo.com/news/macworld/20091104/tc_macworld/thebeatlesreleasingfullcatalogdigitallyviausb_1

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As one of the biggest Beatles fans in the universe, I will say that the suits who run Apple Corps are just about the biggest pricks ever.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Yes. nt

[PretzelWarrior]

2. the people handling the Beatles thing are stupid

they should make a big fanfare around a new release documentary or some new version of rock band and then put everything on iTunes.

They could sell most of their singles at the premium price for songs and make a killing.

[Eric J in MN]

3. I give them credit for including liner notes.

When I buy an album at iTunes, I don't get liner notes.

So the musicians usually aren't credited, besides the name of the band or the name of the primary artist.

[Ian David]

4. Does the USB stick also include FireFox Portable!

:sarcasm:

[Ishoutandscream2]

5. Man. Unreal. A suggestion

The stereo box set started at 179 on Amazon, but now they're priced in the 220 range. The best thing to do is to go to Best Buy and buy each stereo version cd separately. The cd's are selling there for 12.99 a piece, and that includes the double disced White Album and Past Masters. You will still get the mini-documentaries (which really aren't too terribly revealing) with each cd you buy. Thus, you get off cheaper doing this.

This new feature from Apple/EMI is just another rip off. Buy the individual cds at Best Buy. You will get a much better bargain, and you will have all the liner notes, etc. that you wouldn't get from this.

[Ishoutandscream2]

6. Okay, now I'm reading this does have the liner notes

Still, the best thing to do is buy the individual cds.

[LTR]

13. That's the way I did it

There were no stereo and mono box sets when I bought the CDs. And I did the math and realized that I would be better off just getting the CDs individually. That way, I could also exclude CDs I don't really want (like "Yellow Submarine").

[johnfunk]

25. Sound quality on the USB will be BETTER than the CD edition

CDs are limited to 16-bit "Red Book" resolution (which is still pretty damn good providing original analog sources are properly transferred).

The USB stick contains 24-bit .flac format files (64 times the resolution of CD, using EMI's proprietary ART noise shaping algorithm which yields an additional 2 bits of headroom).

If you're serious about sound quality, the Complete Beatles on USB stick is the way to go
… especially if you have a home theater receiver that can play back directly from USB or interfaces with a media center PC or Mac.

[LTR]

27. Hey, a geek question

Can 24-bit FLAC be burned to DVD (for playback in DVD players) and still keep the same resolution? I know that Blu-Ray uses 24/96 as standard.

Just wonderin'.

[johnfunk]

30. It can, with nearly the same resolution...

... using a program like Sony Vegas+DVD, which has a good upsampling algoprithm to convert the flac tracks (you should convert to .wav first). There will be a tiny bit of resampling noise caused from from going to 44.1kHz to 96kHz --- but since it is in the -146dB range, it will be inaudible.

[LaPera]

7. The Beatles; Paul, Ringo, Yoko, & Olivia....

All the Beatles second wives were Americans..... John - Yoko (yes, Yoko was a Japanese-American family came to America in 1940) Paul - Linda (actually, Paul and long time fiancee Jane Asher were never married) George - Olivia and Ringo - Barbara

[rdmtimp]

17. Olivia Harrison was born in Mexico City n/t

[LaPera]

20. Again, she is an American citizen.....

Olivia is Mexican-American....(born May 18, 1948 in Mexico City) Olivia is the daughter of dry-cleaner Esiquiel Arias, and his wife Mary Louise, who worked as a seamstress. She has brothers named Ron and Gilbert and sisters named Chris and Linda. Olivia attended Hawthorne High School in California and graduated in 1965.

Just as Carlos Santana is a Mexican-American citizen. His family, Santana moved to San Francisco from Tijuana and became an American citizen, attended high school in San Francisco and still lives in the SF area, (Mill Valley, in Marin County, CA).

[meegbear]

8. That's the other Apple?

That's the REAL Apple, thank you very bloody fucking much.

[Roland99]

12. So, you're equating yourself to a teabagger (noticed your sig)

Just sayin'....


Might want to rework that analogy! ;-)

[meegbear]

18. The anaogy is fine, the real Apple is Apple Corp, the Beatles' company

And the article is on the Beatles catalog on USB, so your analogy is wrong.

Thanks for playing.

[Roland99]

21. I wasn't referring to the topic of this thread. I was referring to your sig.

[targetpractice]

29. Apple (the computer company) owns the Apple trademark...

They settled with Apple Corps a few years ago, and they license the Apple name to Apple Corps currently.

I know Apple (the computer company) was not first to use the name, but they are the real Apple now because they own the trademark.

I'm being annoying, I know.. but, all in good fun ;-)

[mule_train]

9. All YOU need is Love, but all WE take is money - LOL nt

[NICO9000]

10. I overpaid for the mono box

Believed the hype that there were only going to be 30,000 total for the U.S., UK and Japanese markets (10K per country). Once Amazon sold out, I bought if from Amazon UK for $300 a week before it came out - now it's back on US Amazon for $240.00. Not sorry I got it, just wish I would have realized that of course they'd make more of them since the demand was so high.

I read somewhere that The Beatles corporation refuses to sell these 40+-year-old albums at any discount (The Stones do this too). They never reduced the prices on the 1987 reissues, but at least you could get these new ones individually for $12.99 at Costco & Best Buy when they came out in Sept.

[LTR]

11. They're dipping their toes into the digital stream

There's still a lot of sticking points concerning the availability of Beatles music in download form. From what I hear, it's mostly with EMI, their label. Keep in mind that EMI had screwed the Beatles for so long, with piddly royalty rates and unauthorized licensing deals (remember that Nike "Revolution" ad?), that there's still some bad blood between the parties. McCartney even left the label a few years ago, due to a dislike of the private equity firm that now owns the label.

As for the Apple vs. Apple angle, they resolved that lawsuit years ago. Almost all the solo Beatles stuff is now on iTunes. McCartney even offered his most recent album in lossless digital formats.

Apple Corps. still wants to get their music online (via iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, etc.). Of course, nobody knows what the sticking points are. So far, they have offered some Rock Band material via download, as a work-around the situation.

The USB thing may sound a bit steep in price, but one advantage is that the FLAC files included, if they derived from the main digital masters, will sound better than CD. CDs can go up to 16-bit max, as opposed to lossless formats, which can go up to 24-bit (Blu-Ray quality). The result? You'll essentially be hearing what the Abbey Road engineers heard when they remastered the music. More loudness, more dynamic range, less compression.

I get the feeling that official catalog downloads are imminent. This is likely the first step. Will this USB thing sell? Probably not all that well. It will be snatched up by the really hardcore collectors with deep pockets.

As for the downloads, the real fans already bought the remasters (which are fantastic, BTW). The only real reason to buy the downloads is if they're available in high-quality better-than-CD FLAC or Apple lossless formats. I already ripped my own 320 Kbps MP3s. The downloadable MP3s are for the kids and casual fans, but I'd recommend the CDs over them instead.

[regnaD kciN]

14. You're missing one MAJOR point...

The FLAC files on this stick are 24-bit. CD, by comparison, has only 16-bit resolution. In other words, these are the hi-res versions (probably 24/96) that people have been predicting wouldn't come out for a couple more years.

This is really a big thing for audiophile Beatle fans. Who would buy this? I'd seriously consider it! My only gripe would be, if I'd known this was coming, I'd have only bought the mono box instead of both of them on 09.09.09, and gotten the stereo mixes this way.

[onehandle]

16. You know who can hear the difference between 24-bit files and the best quality ripped from a CD?

Dudes with 100 grand systems in 50 grand listening rooms. Or at least they say they can. Sennheiser sells a $1400 set of headphones. Maybe that would do the trick.

[johnfunk]

26. Not true -- yoiu can hear a difference on a well-selected under-$1000 system....

... for example, the bargain Onkyo 805 receiver set to stereo mode paired with Hsu Research HB-1 spealers (http://hsuresearch.com/products/hb-1.html). It's an amazingly revealing stereo combo, with or without a subwoofer.

[LTR]

28. Another thing with 24-bit

You're less likely to run into limiting and heavy compression, which plagues all too many CDs in the mastering phase.

With 24-bit, no worries about the "loudness wars". Neil Young is even releasing some of his old stuff in this format.

See my journal post for more info on why music sounds like crap these days:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/LTR/151

[TheCML]

22. i guess to each their own.

i think helter skelter deserves the warmth of vinyl myself.

to me this is like watching a colorized, high def version of night of the living dead, sometimes the imperfections create a much better atmosphere.

[Fire Walk With Me]

31. I posted a question about that a month ago on the prosoundweb recpit mastering forum.

WTH wouldn't they release the =lossless= version???? Unbelievable. The difference between 16-bit and 24-bit is easy to hear, even "mastered on 24-bit and professionally reduced to 16-bit".

Thanks, I'm going to wait until DVDs of the 24-bit versions are available.

[Firth]

32. You all seem to be missing the truth

Who said that the original 16 bit digital remasters were not used in the 24 bit FLAC data. The problem with CDs is the unnecessary compression. 16 bits with little or no compression can be great. These Beatles remaster clearly suffer from the compression involved in the original mix which was not fixed by this release. Just compare the sound of the Love recordings, 16 bit. The Beatles need to do a good job, like the Love release.

[CBGLuthier]

15. The Suits are McCartney, Starr and the estates of Lennon and Harrison.

They still run Apple Corps.

It's their product let them exploit it as they will. I have heard it enough times and have moved on to other things.

[AngryAmish]

19. One more way to pull money out of morons

The greed will never end.

[apnu]

23. Actually, George Lucas is the biggest prick ever...

... have you seen how many different versions of the Star Wars DVD's he's released? You know where each edition has more and different bonus footage than before and he keeps inserting bullshit CGI sequences in the original films! He's been shamelessly milking us fans for well over a decade now. And, on top of that, I have three words for you: JAR JAR BINKS

[tiny elvis]

24. bootlegs are the only good new material

the 'artifacts' bootlegs from about 15 years ago are infinitely more fascinating and entertaining than repackaged, remastered boxes of the same material
here is a great piece of contraband bootlegged only a few months ago

revolution take 20, or 'take your knickers off and let's go'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQDDfW2pMhk