The Beatles Now Streaming

Here, there and everywhere, The Beatles’ 13 studio albums, both volumes of the Past Masters series, and the “Red”, “Blue” and 1 compilations, have appeared on Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play, Microsoft Groove, Napster/Rhapsody, Amazon Prime Music, Slacker Rdio, Spotify and Tidal. Going live at 00.01am in each country, The Beatles’ music will be following the sun around the globe from east to west. So whether you live in their Liverpool hometown, or are back in the USSR, you’ll be able to dig deep into the greatest discography in the history of recorded music.

Between 1963 and 1969, The Beatles issued annual Christmas flexi discs as gifts to their fans, so it’s perhaps fitting that they’ve chosen Christmas Eve to start streaming their music. It’s amazing to think that, back when they were stretching technology to the limits and pushing the boundaries of what was possible in the recording studio, the internet hadn’t even been conceived. And yet, over 45 years after the group split, millions of people worldwide will be listening to The Beatles on laptops, tablets and mobile phones – devices that would have been impossible to imagine when John, Paul, George and Ringo were recording to four-track tape in the 60s.

It’s a testament to the group’s historic achievements that their music not only remains essential listening in the digital age, but that it bucks the trend for cherry-picking individual songs from artists’ entire discographies. When it comes to The Beatles, you still want to immerse yourself in the full album experience – could you imagine starting Revolver and not listening through to ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’?

And yet: there are so many stone-cold classics in The Beatles’ canon that their music is also perfect for the age of playlists. Pick any song, from any album, and you’ll have a timeless wonder. After all, these are the songs that set the benchmark – and continue to do so.

Listen to our specially curated Essential and Digging Deeper playlists below.

As they themselves sang on Beatles For Sale: ‘I’ll Follow The Sun’. Track The Beatles’ streaming launch live, as it happens around the world, on www.thebeatles.com, and watch the launch video here.

Explore our dedicated page for The Beatles here.

Format: UK English