The Beatles back catalogue lands on streaming services

The biggest digital refuseniks of the streaming age have finally succumbed to Spotify et al., with the news that The Beatles back catalogue will be available on streaming services from Christmas Eve.

After a few days of rumours, an announcement on The Beatles' website confirms that the band's music will land on nine streaming services at 00.01 on Christmas Eve around the world.

Amazon Prime, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play, Groove, Rhapsody, Slacker, Spotify and Tidal will have access to arguably the most famous music discography of all time.

Tidal claims to be the only place you'll be able to stream The Beatles in lossless, CD-quality audio (Deezer Elite in the US would be the only potential challenger to that claim, based on the list of services).

It wasn't until 2010 that the band's music arrived for download on iTunes, going on to sell 2 million singles in one week. Expect the streaming numbers to be far, far higher...

A "Happy Crimble" it is, then.

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Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff and The Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).