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TechApple

The Beatles Made the News Today, Oh Boy

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 24, 2015, 7:38 AM ET
Fans line the rooftop at Kennedy International Airport for a
UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 21: Fans line the rooftop at Kennedy International Airport for a last glimpse of the Beatles -- (left to right) Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and George Harrison -- as they fly home to England after their second American tour of the year. (Photo by Dan Farrell/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)Photograph by Dan Farrell — NY Daily News via Getty Images

News that one of the biggest names in music was coming to all the major music streaming services Christmas Eve inspired more than a few writers to reach into The Beatles’ back catalog for titles and lyrics they could turn into headlines.

Among the 87 Beatles stories I counted on Techmeme this morning were these Beatles references:

  • Daily Mail: You’ve got a ticket to… stream
  • Dwight Silverman, The Chron: ‘Love Me Do’, out the wazoo
  • Molly Brown, GeekWire: Talk about a revolution
  • Alan Buckingham, BetaNews: In the end
  • Alan Patrick, broadstuff:It’s been a hard day’s night
  • Blathnaid Healy, Mashable: Twist and shout!
  • Guardian: Here, there and everywhere.

.

Apple Corps. (not to be confused with Apple Inc. (AAPL)) has come a long way in the five years since Steve Jobs dragged the 60s-era music rights-holder into the digital age, securing exclusive Beatles download rights on iTunes. “It has been a long and winding road to get here,” Jobs said in a 2010 Apple press release that included sound bites from Paul McCartney, Ringo Star, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono.

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This time, it was Apple Corps. that called the tune, introducing The Beatles to the several generations of new listerners on its own terms. As the Wall Street Journal put it:

If one service had snagged exclusive rights to the band it would have gained a major marketing advantage over rivals. By going with all the major services at once, and leaving money on the table in the short term, the band may have benefited the broader industry, and potentially themselves, by helping to promote the impression that subscription services have most of the music consumers want.

Starting today, you can listen to The Beatles on any one of these nine streaming services:

  • Spotify
  • Apple Music
  • Slacker
  • Tidal
  • Microsoft’s Groove
  • Rhapsody
  • Deezer
  • Google Play
  • Amazon Prime

.

Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter at @philiped. Read his Apple coverage at fortune.com/ped or subscribe via his RSS feed.

About the Author
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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