The Beatles and Apple Computer may be close to reaching a deal to finally make their music available online. According to an article from Fortune, Apple’s iTunes is nearing an agreement with representatives of the massively popular group.
I
it has been a long and winding road to get to this point. The Beatles business division Apple Corp and Apple Computer have been battling in court for 20 years over their similar names and trademarks.
Rumors surrounding the deal include Beatles songs being available only through Apple’s iTunes for up to one year. There is speculation that The Beatles could have a branded site where all their music, videos would be available online and possibly supported by Apple Computer.
The Beatles business representatives and not the group’s record label EMI now are leading the meetings taking place. EMI owns all the original master recordings. Spokeswoman for EMI Jeanne Meyer told CNET News.com “We’ve had several discussions with them, because we think it would be terrific to make all The Beatles’ work available in digital services, We would be delighted if they made that decision.”
Other music groups who are not online include Led Zeppelin and Madonna. The Beatles were also late in moving their catalogue to CD after most major artists had made the change.
Just how soon Apple Computer and The Beatles can reach an agreement is the real question. Both sides were hoping to work it out before the release of “Love” a soundtrack for Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil production. The re-mixed songs for “Love” were released on November 21. No official announcement was made concerning the agreement to get the groups music online. Steve Jobs founder of Apple Computer is said to be personally involved with the discussions.
Hopefully the two sides will be able to reach an agreement soon. Many fans are probably wishing that it had been completed yesterday.
Tag: Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit | Furl Bookmark murdok:
Mike is a staff writer for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest ebusiness news.