Apple has some big news for early rock ‘n’ roll lovers: The company’s music store is expected to finally start carrying tunes from the Beatles.
The absence of the Beatles has been one of the most high-profile holes in iTunes, Apple’s digital store. The Beatles have remained focused on other media, even as the decline of compact discs drives other artists and record companies to the Internet.
For Apple’s Steve Jobs, the deal is all the more sweet – the high-tech pioneer has long pursued the music catalogue of the Fab Four.
In 2007, Apple and the Beatles’ Apple Corps, the entity that handles the band’s business affairs, settled a trademark dispute about their similar names and logos.
The deal for Beatles music, first reported last night in The Wall Street Journal, resulted from talks among execs of Apple, Beatles reps and their record label, EMI, sources said.
The talks were taking place as recently as last week and there’s still a chance Apple could change plans at the last minute, The Journal reported.
After posting a cryptic message on its website yesterday – “Tomorrow is just another day. That you’ll never forget” – tech buzz seemed certain Apple’s big announcement wouldn’t involve the Beatles at all.
Instead, many thought the music service, which earned more than $1 billion in revenue last quarter, was preparing to revamp its iTunes system – giving users the opportunity to access music, TV shows and movies over the Internet.
That kind of announcement remains a possibility. Apple last year bought startup Lala.com, which lets users pay a small fee to stream music over the Internet instead of buying tracks for download. Such a service would be an upgrade for users who would no longer have to sync their devices.
Some analysts believe Apple will eventually offer users of iPhones and other gadgets Web access to their iTunes libraries.
Introduced in 2001, iTunes is the largest destination for buying music in the U.S., bigger than Walmart and Amazon.com, according to research firm NPD Group.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/11/16/2010-11-16_its_about_time_apple_announces_that_itunes_store_will_start_carrying_the_beatles.html#ixzz15RhOV3GK
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