Where Are the Beatles?

So tonight, Ashley and I watched Across the Universe, the Beatles musical.  The movie was - literally - trippy, and the music was simply astounding.  As it should be; it is the Beatles, after all.

As I was watching the movie, I recognized most of the music but there were some songs that I hadn't heard before (I really loved "Dear Prudence" and "Happiness is a Warm Gun," both of which were new to me).  Here's the probelm with the Beatles, though: they aren't accessible to me.

While watching the movie I thought, "man, I need to download their music" since I have a Zune Pass and can download whatever I want.  But it's not there.  Amazon MP3?  Nope.  iTunes?  Not there either.

The only way to get the Beatles music is via CDs.  And I don't buy CDs.

It's not that I couldn't go out and buy a CD... obviously that's humanly possible.  I just... don't.  I don't want the cluttler.  I don't want to have to keep up with a disc.  I don't want to be bothered to go to the store.  I don't want to have to buy a whole album if I only want a few songs.  It's just not how I consume my music anymore.

So here I am, a willing customer.  I want to listen to the Beatles and would love to get to put their stuff on my computer, and let their art entertain me.  But - because I'm spoiled with the convience of doing everything digitally - it's not going to happen until someone convinces them to put it out there.

I jsut don't understand why it's not out there?  In today's fast moving marketplace, why would a band so integral to the shape of today's music not want to be involved in today's marketplace?  Why silo your work to an old media type that people would be fighting over to be able to distribute for you?  Seriously... it's not that hard to publish content online.

Ah well.  It's a shame that the Beatles don't want me to listen to their music.  Instead, I just got the Across the Universe soundtrack, and it's pleasing to my ears.

When you decide to play nice, Beatles, I'll be waiting.