Millions of Beatles tracks downloaded; Too much, too fast?
Did Apple flood the music market with too much Beatles at one time?
A post by The Guardian cites "industry observers" who have said that the group's catalog might have done better if the release of the albums and singles had been staggered, instead of offered in its entirety.
Maybe that's true - but look at the one-week sales numbers, which is the real headline here. The Guardian cites music label EMI as reporting more than 450,000 Beatles albums and 2 million Beatles songs downloaded via iTunes in the first week.
Sure, those are big numbers. But there was a lot of pent-up demand and excitement around the deal to bring the catalog to iTunes. Sales would certainly spike. And they'll likely stay strong for a while, as lovers of the Fab Four fill out their collections.
Over time, the Beatles will become just another artist in the iTunes store, right alongside legends like Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley. Not that that's a bad place to be.
Related: Apple finally brings Beatles to iTunes; does it matter?