US-based download site BlueBeat.com is selling The Beatles’ entire back catalogue for the first time, with individual tracks being sold for 25 cents each. Illegally so it seems, EMI nor Apple Corps have given permission for The Beatles’ music to be sold online as downloads. Add to that that BlueBeat.com is also selling songs as downloads by AC/DC. And let AC/DC be another band known to be opposed against issuing their material digitally online.
Here’s what BlueBeat says about its service:
BlueBeat is digital radio done right!
We’re not satisfied with the current state of online digital radio, and it’s easy to see why. Music services abound with low quality mp3 encodings and overpriced subscription fees. We won’t name our “competitors”, but suffice it to say that every time we see music services offer 50 or, in some cases, a whopping 60, generic radio stations, we sit down with our expert music team and dream up new themes along the likes of 1 Hit Wonders, Chillosophy, and Bitchin’ Tunes, to add to our growing collection of over 400 choices. When we raise our eyebrows at stations who boast 128kbps mp3 audio, we’re usually either pumping Dylan Undercover or $Bling Bling$ through our surround sound systems at 320 kilos per second.
But we’d never want you to let numbers speak for themselves. Just take into consideration that while we’re working on great new features like play list sharing, listener profiles and ratings and, of course, improving our ever-expanding music vault, you’ll have plenty of time to try us out. BlueBeat is, after all, free.
Since the service is less popular they go the illegal way so it seems…
Update: EMI are suing US website BlueBeat.com after the site began selling downloads of the band’s back catalogue and streaming them free.
