macnn/ipodnn
03/10/2008, 10:10am, EDT
Monday, March 10th
Beatles on iTunes by end of the year?
The Beatles' back catalog should finally appear in digital form by the end of the year, claims a British tabloid. The deal will reportedly see the music come to the iTunes Store, with albums including the likes of Help!, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and possibly more. The deal is said to worth as much as £200 ($402.5) million, and has allegedly been sanctioned by lead Beatle Paul McCartney as means to help pay for his divorce from Heather Mills. Proceedings have already cost McCartney £5 million, and may jump by another £20 to £30 million after a settlement.
The release of The Beatles' music in digital form has been highly sought-after, as it continues to sell in record shops decades after the band broke up. The solo projects of the band members are already on iTunes, and McCartney himself has said the catalog should be on its way; the major obstacle is said to have been the number of parties involved, as Sony, EMI and Michael Jackson own combinations of recording and publishing rights. Additionally, royalties must be paid to McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison.
Filed under: iPod, iPhone
Other story tags: iTunes, music, Beatles
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Personally, I rate Beatles music as 'ok,' nothing all that amazing, so there's no emotionally charged element in this whole thing for me.
So anyone else care to have a laugh at McCartney?
She seems so nice though, so I wonder why they despise one another so much. Oh well, more people to cause of iTunes and Apple, so I'm not complaining.
And jayparry is right. Who really cares. I've got all their albums anyway, probably ripped at about as poor bit rate as you'd get out of the iTMS.
As for the Beatles, just do it already! They've been saying "real soon now" for how many years? By the time they finally get to it, everybody who was actually around during the British invasion will be dead.