# Why can't I buy the Beatles from Amazon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2010, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590 "2010-03-07T04:40:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/1 "2010-03-07T04:40:19Z")
I recently bought a Sony MP3 player, and in addition to ripping all my CDs to the Walkman via my computer, I’m buying about 2 mp3 albums a month from Amazon. On CD, I have A Hard Day’s Night, Revolver, and the White Album. I want more, yet, inexplicably, the Beatles catalog is not available in the mp3 format that I’m more than willing to throw money at. What’s up with this? Can someone make it expicable? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/2 "2010-03-07T04:43:19Z")
The publisher would rather sell CDs. AFAIK (not being a Beatles fan) they don’t want to release the songs for download. ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/3 "2010-03-07T04:43:55Z")
1. Conflicts between EMI and digital distributors. 2. No reason to - people still buy the albums like crazy ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/4 "2010-03-07T04:47:13Z")
What kind of beatles from Amazon? I’m pretty sure they have hundreds of different species of beatle. ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/5 "2010-03-07T04:50:39Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > What kind of beatles from Amazon? I’m pretty sure they have hundreds of different species of beatle. That joke would be funny, except instead you pointed out just how ubiquitous the improper spelling of the animal is. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/6 "2010-03-07T05:23:45Z")
> [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](#): > > 1. No reason to - people still buy the albums like crazy Well, this may be it, as after my browsing today, I strongly suspect that I will be buying both Let It Be and Let It Be - Naked tomorrow at the local Barnes & Noble. ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/7 "2010-03-07T05:35:41Z")
It is an interesting approach to selling music in the digital age. If I recall AC/DC didn’t digitally distribute a recent album and it sold very well. Their reasoning was fans only buy the singles and they wanted them to hear (my editorializing: pay for) the entire thing. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/8 "2010-03-07T05:45:50Z")
> [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](#): > > Their reasoning was fans only buy the singles and they wanted them to hear (my editorializing: pay for) the entire thing. Yes, but it’s a rip-off anymore to buy the music in stores, and if it were anyone else but the Beatles, I’d probably do without. (Which I suspect answers my question - and perhaps instead of blowing 40 bucks at Barnes & Noble tomorrow I should buy 5 or 6 non-Beatles albums from Amazon instead of 2, for the encouragement of the others.) Every album that I’ve bought from Amazon has been about $10 cheaper than if I’d bought it in a store. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/9 "2010-03-07T16:26:37Z")
Probably a dumb question, but can’t you buy the CDs at Amazon online and reap the rewards of cheaper online pricing that way? If you buy more than $25 worth, shipping is free, too. (Same thing at B&[N.com](http://N.com), IIRC.) And if you’re a member of FatWallet or some similar site, you can also get cash back at B&N. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/10 "2010-03-07T16:41:48Z")
Try a used CD store. I’ve never had issues with used CDs and getting perfect rips. Here’s a store selling the [8-Track version](http://www.8-track-shack.com/beatles-revolver-p-38879.html) of “Revolver” if you’re really old school (and other 8-Tracks ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/11 "2010-03-07T21:10:45Z")
So far, the only authorized digital release of the Beatles is [this USB of the entire stereo Beatles remaster catalog](http://beatles.fanfire.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Store.woa/wa/product?sourceCode=BEAWEB&sku=BEA48315&utm_source=storefront&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=BEA_USBapple_200911). The Beatles are perhaps the most famous and longest holdout on the MP3 download, due in part due to a legal dispute between Apple Corps and Apple Computer which was eventually resolved by Apple Computer obtaining the rights to the Apple Corps logos. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/12 "2010-03-10T01:26:34Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > …if it were anyone else but the Beatles, I’d probably do without. (Which I suspect answers my question - and perhaps instead of blowing 40 bucks at Barnes & Noble tomorrow I should buy 5 or 6 non-Beatles albums… I would’ve said that, until I listened to some of the remastered CDs, and heard nuances I had\* never\* heard before\*\*\*\*\*\*\*. Even on tracks that I didn’t care for, or was sick of. Now I can’t wait to buy a few more. The only new CDs I’ve bought in years… \*and entire _ **instruments** _! Who knew that Ringo had gone nuts improvising on the bongos on a couple of tracks? ---
**Author:** ![LittleGreenRosetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c77e96/32.png) [@LittleGreenRosetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LittleGreenRosetta)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-buy-the-beatles-from-amazon/531590/13 "2010-03-10T03:32:18Z")
> [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](#): > > It is an interesting approach to selling music in the digital age. If I recall AC/DC didn’t digitally distribute a recent album and it sold very well. Their reasoning was fans only buy the singles and they wanted them to hear (my editorializing: pay for) the entire thing. I’ve seen songs on iTunes available only if you buy the entire album, so they could have done that. I guess they don’t know that CD players have a “skip” button. 😛