Beatles tunes being prepped for download

The Beatles are preparing to sell their songs online after years of refusing to take part in the Internet music boom, according to testimony given by the head of their record company.

Neil Aspinall, a former Beatles road manager and managing director of Apple Corps, was a witness in the company's trademark lawsuit against Apple Computer.

He said that the company was digitally remastering the entire Beatles catalog, which would pave the way for selling the songs online.

"I think it would be wrong to offer downloads of the old masters when I am making new masters," he said in a written statement submitted to the High Court in London earlier this month.

"It would be better to wait and try to do them both simultaneously so that you then get the publicity of the new masters and the downloading, rather than just doing it ad hoc."

A spokeswoman for Apple Corps confirmed Aspinall's statement, and said that the company is preparing to make the Beatles catalog available through online music services.

"There's no firm date on any of this at the moment. There are a lot of projects that Apple are working on at the moment," she said on Thursday.

The Beatles have been high-profile holdouts from the booming online music sector, which saw sales triple to $1.1 billion in 2005.

Apple Corps, owned by Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison, have accused Apple Computer of violating a 1991 agreement by using the Apple name and logo to sell music downloads through its market-leading iTunes Music Store.

The trial ended on April 6, with a decision from the judge due after Easter.

Story Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

[rcrusoe]

This will be fun to watch

On one hand we've got Apple Corp vs Apple Computer fighting in court, on the other we've got Apple Computer responsible for more than 70% of 2005's $1.1 Billion in legal download sales.

So will the Beatles music be offered on iTunes where they will be sure to make a ton of money?

Or will they offer it on their own or someone else's site in Windows Media format? A format that will not play on the majority of world's portable music players (i.e. iPod)

The vast majority of boomers either buy CDs or use iTunes, and I would think that they are the largest likely market for the Beatles catalog.

Yep, this is going to get interesting.

[bobby_brady]

That's why online downloads are still a ripoff

Imagine buying a CD, but it will only play on certain CD players...and with DRM that CD will only play on your CD player. What a mess!

[mahurshi]

i am surprised

i am surprised people still listen to beatles :-)

[markusfarkus]

Beatles Popularity

I think plenty of people still listen to the Beatles and love their music. However, I question how many people are actually anxious to download any Beatles music. If you are a Beatles fan then you've probably already got all their albums on vinyl or cd. So what good does it do having those tracks available on iTunes? Unless they have lots of rare tracks and live performances, I don't see people rushing to buy their music online.

[pjianwei]

Going through the Share music function on iTunes.

at my dorm's LAN, i would say Beatles music are right up there with anyone else. And most importantly, they do stay there for ages.