Last night I used iTunes to download music from John Lennon and Paul McCartney…and then I woke up. Because that had to have been a dream, right? Nope, it actually happened. And for some reason I didn’t even have to pay for the McCartney stuff, but we’ll get to that later.
For the past week I’d been marveling at the fact that every time I visited the iTunes Store homepage, the first two faces I saw were that of John and Paul, right next to each other, each having their own prominent banner along the store’s top. John, because his solo catalog was just added. Paul, for something related to his new album. And every time I saw those two faces together in iTunes, it took me aback. Not because the Beatles were until recently embroiled in such a bitter legal battle with Apple over the whole iTunes Store thing. That’s…whatever. No, what got me was the fact that, here in a digital music store, in an internet-based piece of software on a twenty-first century computer, it still comes down to Lennon and McCartney.
About the fourth or fifth time I saw that pair of banners I felt compelled to take a screenshot of them. But it wasn’t until last night that I spotted a second banner further down the page proclaiming that Paul’s new single was a free download, and although I almost never download the “free single of the week” unless I like the sound of the preview, I’m a sucker for free music from artists I actually like. It turns out that not only did I get Paul’s new single for free, I also got the new music video for said single for free as well. I haven’t yet watched the video, but the song sounds pretty good on first listen. Come to think of it, I’ve liked the first two singles from Paul’s new album, maybe I should go back and bite on the whole thing. But then there’s that free track working its marketing magic on me, now isn’t it.
Having added Paul’s solo music to my Purchased playlist, it seemed only appropriate to take a dip into John’s solo stuff as well. I ended up downloading four of his songs. Maybe I’ll go back for more later. Four is enough to chew on for now. But there’s a ton of solo stuff in there that I never even knew existed (I guess that comes from growing up in a household where Paul’s music was more prevalent than John’s) that I’ll have to go back and check out later.
But whether I liked McCartney’s new song or which of Lennon’s songs I downloaded doesn’t really matter, does it? The real story here is that this stuff is now finally at my (and everyone else’s) digital fingertips. Younger generations will continue to seek out Beatles music, whether it be through iTunes, compact disc, or two cups and a string. But the post-Beatles solo stuff needs to be in iTunes in order to be discovered by the younger ones, and now it is.
The fun part for me was when I started listening to my iPhone this morning and, without necessarily remembering what I’d downloaded the night before, fired up my newly constructed “Recently Added” playlist and found 1970 Lennon flowing right into 2007 McCartney. I’m not sure which of the two being on my iPhone makes for the more surreal experience.
When I glanced at the iTunes Store homepage this morning, this being New Music Tuesday, the big banners for both Lennon and McCartney were sadly gone. But check out what was taking their place:
I suspect that, wherever they are, all four Beatles are collectively getting a kick out of this. I know I am.
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