You may have heard of a band called The Beatles, who achieved the small feat of inventing modern pop music as we know it – and today the band has released its last-ever song, Now and Then.
The song's release has been made possible thanks to the AI-powered 'demixing' software that director Peter Jackson and his team used to create the must-watch docuseries The Beatles: Get Back on Disney Plus.
And today we get to hear the result, five decades on from when John Lennon recorded the song's vocals on tape in the 1970s. The song is streaming on most major music streaming services, and there are a couple of accompanying videos to watch, too.
A short, 12-minute documentary called Now And Then – The Last Beatles Song is streaming right now, while the official music video for the song is being released on Disney Plus on November 3. Looking for all of the ways you can listen to and watch this piece of music history? We've got all the details here.
How to listen to Now and Then
The last ever song from The Beatles, Now and Then, was released worldwide today, Thursday November 2, across most major streaming services from 7am PDT / 10am EDT / 2pm GMT, which was 1am AEDT on Friday November 3 for those in Australia.
You can listen to the song now on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Prime Music and YouTube Music or by going to this Universal Music Group page and following the links. You can also now listen to the song on YouTube (below).
If you think listening to the song on physical media is a bit more fitting, you'll also be able to buy the double A-side on CD, vinyl and cassette from Friday November 3.
The new song will be paired with The Beatles' first UK single from 1962, Love Me Do. Both songs have been mixed in stereo and Dolby Atmos, with Now and Then created using the same 'demixing' technology that was used to separate the band's vocals from the instrumental tracks for The Beatles: Get Back documentary on Disney Plus.
How to watch the documentary
A short documentary about the making of the song is also available to stream right now on YouTube and Disney Plus.
The 12-minute documentary, Now And Then – The Last Beatles Song (below) delves into the five-decade long journey towards the song's release, and explains why it's only been possible now thanks to recent advances in machine learning tech.
The problem was separating John Lennon's vocal from the piano part he recorded on tape in the 1970s. This was solved thanks to the software system created by Peter Jackson's team for the recent The Beatles: Get Back documentary.
This 'demixing' tech allowed Paul McCartney and Ringo to record new parts to accompany Lennon's vocals, with McCartney also adding a solo in the signature style of George Harrison.
How to watch the 'Now and Then' music video
Director Peter Jackson and his team haven't just contributed the machine learning tech that was needed to create Now and Then; he's also directed a music video, which will available to stream on Disney Plus on November 3.
It isn't yet clear what form the music video will take, but Jackson has said: "We wanted the music video to bring a few tears to the eye, but generating emotion using only archive footage is a tricky thing. Fortunately, the simple power of this beautiful song did a lot of the work for us. I have genuine pride in what we made, and I’ll cherish that for years to come.”
If you haven't already watched the Disney Plus docuseries The Beatles: Get Back, this new music video is a good opportunity to do so – it's a fascinating, fly-on-the-wall peek inside the band's final days making Let It Be.
The Jackson-directed three-parter was pieced together from 60 hours of unseen footage and 150 hours of audio, much of which was cleaned up and separated using the same AI-assisted software used to create Now and Then.
