Beatles to stream online

The Beatles have a history of embracing technology later than most, with the band’s music not appearing on iTunes until 2010, some seven years after the service was first launched.

Spotify has announced it will give access to 13 remastered studio albums, as well as four essential collections, including The Beatles 1962 – 1966, The Beatles 1967 – 1970 and Past Masters (Volumes 1 & 2).

Years of waiting are over for Beatles fans wanting to listen to the Fab Four’s music on streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify.

The Beatles are set to release their back catalogue on streaming sites including Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal for the first time from Christmas Eve, the band’s website said Wednesday.

Internet music streaming leader Pandora announced on Tuesday that it had reached multiyear licensing deals with BMI and ASCAP, two major trade groups that between them own the music publishing rights to 20 million songs.

Adele, however, is not streaming on any service her new album “25” which nonetheless is the fastest-selling record in the United States and Britain since tracking services started keeping statistics.

“Happy Crimble, with love from us to you”, The Beatles said on its website, referring to a term popularized by John Lennon to describe Christmas.

When Apple Music debuted in June with a free three-month trial for any subscriber, Taylor Swift wrote an open letter to the company on Tumblr, saying, “Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months”.

The move is a major win for streaming companies, which have faced criticism from a string of artists over the amount of money they make.

Now, streaming is the industry sea change too big to ignore.

Swift has released a film of her latest tour exclusively on Apple Music while Tidal, led by rap mogul Jay Z, has heavily promoted unique content including the full catalog of Prince.

For smaller, independent musical groups, streaming has come under fire for giving musicians incredibly small royalty payments per stream.