March 9th, 2008
Report: Paul McCartney, Apple seal deal to bring Beatles catalog to iTunes
The Beatles may be coming to iTunes.
According to a report in the U.K.’s Telegraph, Paul McCartney is expected to deliver the Beatles back catalog for download on Apple’s iTunes. The value of the deal could be worth as much as 300 million pounds. That translates into more than $600 million at current exchange rates. Other reports–all citing British tabloids–peg the deal at about $400 million.
If this report proves true, it’s a big coup for Apple and iTunes. The Telegraph also reported that a date hasn’t been set for the deal.
The Beatles catalog has been AWOL on the Internet due to lawsuits between EMI and surviving band members. Meanwhile Apple Corp., the company behind the Beatles, and Apple have been in a tiff over their names. Those agreements were settled last year paving the way for the iTunes deal.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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