You may be able to listen to the Beatles on Spotify or Apple Music on Christmas Eve, Billboard says
Billboard's report is frustratingly vague. But it says that "there's a strong indication" that the music of the Fab Four will be available on one or all of the major streaming services by Christmas Eve, or Thursday, December 24th.
That means it could come to Spotify, Apple Music, or smaller upstarts like Rhapsody, Tidal, or Deezer.
That report also indicates that the deal would cover the Beatles' studio albums. Those albums are already available on Pandora, which operates under a radio station-like licensing structure, mainly because users can't actively choose which songs to listen to.
That said, it would be a huge leap forward, kind of like in 2010 when the Beatles finally came to the iTunes Music Store after lots of hand-wringing and licensing delays. And it would make a nice little Christmas miracle to be able to bump "Paperback Writer" from the Chromecast via Spotify while we stuff some stockings.
It would just be kind of funny if Spotify ends up able to play the Beatles, but not Taylor Swift's 2014 album "1989."
Apple Records, which owns the rights to the Beatles' albums, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.