The Beatles are topping the singles charts while the Rolling Stones are riding high in the album rankings. It’s 1965 again! Except this time round, both bands are being supported by all manner of digital shizzle.
The latest example is for the Fab Four. “The Beatles have joined YouTube Shorts for the first time ever,” wrote YouTube’s global head of music Lyor Cohen in a blog post this morning.
That means their new (old) track ‘Now And Then’ is officially available for YouTube Shorts users to put in their videos. However, the deal also adds 75 tracks from the reissued ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ Beatles compilation albums.
“In the past year alone, The Beatles have earned over 1 billion views across their official YouTube channel from all eras of Beatles fans,” noted Cohen, adding that he sees short video as the latest way the band can reach younger listeners.
“A 17-year-old today could discover The Beatles on YouTube Shorts and fall in love with them for the very first time,” he wrote. “While this might be the last Beatles song, this could be the first day a new fan is created.”
Without wishing to rain on the parade, it is not the first time the Beatles have Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Dabbled with short video. In October 2021, the band launched an official profile on TikTok and added 36 tracks to that service’s official catalogue. They have since accumulated 1.6 million followers on that platform.
YouTube Shorts isn’t the only Beatles debut this month. UMG has also launched three albums of Beatles and Paul McCartney music for Yoto, the children’s speaker.
Two are based on the ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ compilations, choosing 12 tracks from each. The third focuses on McCartney’s solo career.
UMG will be hoping for no repeat of the Queen ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ controversy this time round. Music Ally would have kicked off if Frog Chorus classic ‘We All Stand Together’ had been left off, but sensibly given Yoto’s young audience, it’s present and correct.
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