It’s being pretty widely reported that Apple has closed the deal with Sir Paul McCartney to finally put the Beatles music up on the iTunes Music Store.
According to Britain’s Telegraph newspaper, “Sir Paul McCartney is expected to release the Beatles back catalogue for download on the internet in a deal which could be worth up to £300 million.
Former hits from albums such as Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the White Album and Help will be available on the popular iTunes website and are expected to top the download charts for several months on release.
Although the exact value of the records are not known, some estimates have placed it at £300 million and Sir Paul, Ringo Starr and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison would all receive large sums of money as part of the contract.
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Sir Paul, 65, is currently involved in a divorce settlement with his estranged wife Lady McCartney and the final hearing, expected in 10 days time, could see him paying her up to £30 million in a cash settlement.
A spokesman for Apple Corps, the Beatles record label, would not confirm when the records would be available online and said: “The date has not yet been set.”
Release of the Beatles’ songs over the internet has earlier been prevented as the surviving band members were involved in legal disputes with their record label EMI and Apple Corps and the American company Apple Computers, who own iTunes.
Since both disagreements were settled in court last year, representatives of the band are reported to have been creating digital versions of all its tracks ready for them to be available online. “
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