Rather than disagree that they were the most influential, I would tip that on its head and say the Beatles were one of the most influenced bands. Where the Beatles made a big contribution was that they channelled those influences into music that affected many millions.
For everything you might claim they were the first at, it is easy to find someone that did it earlier, that probably influenced the Beatles, but didn't take it to anything like the market the Beatles were able to reach.
So, of course the Beatles were incredibly influential - but not because of any originality in their music or even style ideas, but in the sheer marketing genius. It has often been said that hit tunes rarely have enduring merit (except for how they remind us of how we felt when we listened to them at the height of their popularity), and succeed by delivering the right song at the right time. The Beatles did that repeatedly and led the market for pop songs by the nose for several years till they got bored with it.
They did not give birth to modern music, but they did give it huge momentum.
For everything you might claim they were the first at, it is easy to find someone that did it earlier, that probably influenced the Beatles, but didn't take it to anything like the market the Beatles were able to reach.
So, of course the Beatles were incredibly influential - but not because of any originality in their music or even style ideas, but in the sheer marketing genius. It has often been said that hit tunes rarely have enduring merit (except for how they remind us of how we felt when we listened to them at the height of their popularity), and succeed by delivering the right song at the right time. The Beatles did that repeatedly and led the market for pop songs by the nose for several years till they got bored with it.
They did not give birth to modern music, but they did give it huge momentum.