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| Martha |
AP
Ahead of the Bell: Beatles Digital Soon?
Friday May 11, 9:27 am ET
Paul McCartney Tells Billboard the Beatles Catalog
Will Soon Be Available Online
NEW YORK (AP) -- A long-awaited deal to make the
Beatles music catalog available online is "virtually
settled," Paul McCartney told Billboard magazine.
Billboard posted a preview of an interview with the
pop icon on its Web site Friday, with the full story
to appear in print and online Saturday.
The magazine said McCartney has a new album that will
be available for download June 5 via Starbucks' Hear
Music label. The story said the digital distribution
deal with the coffee chain's label "is believed to
pertain solely to the new album and not back catalog."
The deal, however, signals "increased willingness on
the part of the former Beatles to make music available
for consumption online," Billboard noted. Right now, a
limited number of songs McCartney recorded with other
artists, and a few solo records from Ringo Starr and
John Lennon, are all fans can legally get through
downloads.
The launch of Beatles music on the Internet has been
tied up by in various lawsuits, including a
long-running tussle between Apple Inc., the owner of
online music service iTunes and maker of iPods, and
Apple Corps. Ltd., the Beatles record label, over
trademark issues regarding the company names that was
settled in February.
In March, Apple Corps. settled a separate dispute with
record label EMI Group PLC over royalties. EMI
releases Beatles recordings under the Apple Corps.
label, and in mid-April, Chief Executive Eric Nicoli
said the company was seeking to make the Fab Four's
music available online "soon."
Earlier in April, EMI and Cupertino, Calif.-based
Apple Inc. reached a deal for making downloads
available on iTunes without technology to prevent
unauthorized copying and sharing, which raised further
speculation on the possibility of Beatles downloads.
Rumors have floated on the Internet about a
Beatles-themed "Yellow Submarine iPod" that would
follow in the footsteps of other catalog-rich music
players Apple Inc. has released in recent years.
Neither company has confirmed that speculation.
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| Saint Sway |
quote:
Martha wrote:
Rumors have floated on the Internet about a
Beatles-themed "Yellow Submarine iPod" that would
follow in the footsteps of other catalog-rich music
players Apple Inc. has released in recent years.
Neither company has confirmed that speculation.
and all the color girls sing "G to the H to the E to the Y" |
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