The Beatles may have famously refused to join the world of music streaming for years, but fans of the Fab Four received an early Christmas gift last week when much of the band’s catalog became available on streaming services including Spotify and Apple Music for the first time.
And while the Beatles are securing a top spot on the streaming charts as we head into 2016, here are 5 great albums you still can’t stream.
1. Prince – Purple Rain
Ok, if you’re one of the 1 million people that subscribe to TIDAL, you’re not out of luck on this one. Prince has famously resisted the digital age (his foray into social media in 2014 lasted just a few days), so the fact that Purple Rain is actually available on Jay-Z’s streaming service is somewhat surprising. But earlier this year, Prince pulled his entire catalog from all other streaming services including Spotify, which boasts 10 times as many users as TIDAL. So why TIDAL? It likely has something to do with the higher percentage that TIDAL pays out to artists.
2. Traveling Wilburys – Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1
Known for their quirky humor, the Traveling Wilburys’ only two albums, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, and the intentionally named, though less popular, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3, have never traveled onto streaming services like Spotify. We find this to be odd, as you can find all the individual members of the Wilburys on many streaming services. In case you don’t remember, that’s George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne.
3. Bob Seger – Night Moves
Night Moves isn’t the only Bob Seger album you can’t stream; Seger’s entire catalog is notably missing from every streaming service out there. And not just streaming, either. If you want to listen to this sextuple Platinum-certified album, you’ll have to go old-school because you can’t get it on iTunes either. And while it seems that releasing the album on streaming or download services might bring a whole new life to the 40-year-old album, it’s unlikely Seger will come around any time soon. In 2014 he told Rolling Stone he doesn’t even use email, Facebook or Twitter.
4. King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King
Some speculate that one reason bands like King Crimson don’t allow their albums to be streamed is so that they can be listened to, and digested, whole, as the artist originally intended them to be heard. While fans may hope to have these classic albums more readily available, this journal entry from Robert Fripp shows that he may be grudgingly refusing to let his music be streamed. This is despite some of his recent solo albums being available on Spotify.
5. The Beatles – Meet the Beatles!
While the Beatles’ core catalog is newly available on Spotify, Apple Music and various other streaming services, if you want to listen to some of the band’s U.S. releases, extended play, or live albums, you’ll still have to pay to download them, pop in that CD, or better yet, break out the vinyl.
Meet the Beatles! was the second Beatles album released in the U.S., coming out on Capitol Records just 10 days after Introducing… The Beatles was released on Vee-Jay Records. Meet the Beatles! topped the popular album chart in February of 1964 and remained at #1 for 11 weeks.