Beatles catalog to reach Apple's iTunes by Valentine's Day?

[AppleInsider]

Compelling evidence has surfaced that 1 Infinite Loop and Abbey Road are almost ready to bury the hatchet, as both Apple firms drop hints that they may at last bring the legendary music catalogue of The Beatles to iTunes.

Potentially ending decades of pent-up animosity, Apple Inc. and record label Apple Corps may be on the verge of announcing a crucial deal that would give the Cupertino-based iPod maker the first shot at online distribution of Beatles songs, according to discoveries made by Electronista.

Citing a source speaking with Beatles news outlet Abbey Road Best, the technology news website claims that the once bitter opponents have mended fences and are preparing an exclusive campaign that would further cement iTunes' position at the apex of the online music industry.

Under the terms of the purported deal, Apple Corps would make at least some of the British rock group's music collection available through iTunes on Valentine's Day, providing a convenient means of promoting the band's recent Cirque du Soleil project, Love. The deal would not only grant Apple Inc. one of the most coveted distribution agreements in modern music history, but would also afford the company a valuable weapon against its challengers, according to the report.

Additionally, it was reported that iTunes would become the exclusive home of the Beatles' online music library for a three-month period, delaying the CD release of newly remastered Beatles albums in the process.

The news, while to be taken with a grain of salt, gains momentum from Steve Jobs' recent Macworld keynote address. The Apple Inc. chief executive recently piqued the interest of many avid Mac and iPod followers by making seemingly continuous use of The Beatles material in the music sections of both his Apple TV and iPhone demos, leading some to believe that he was deliberately stoking the fires of existing rumors linking The Beatles and iTunes.

Conspicuously, Jobs scrolled past a "My Beatlemania!" playlist and at least one Beatles album when browsing songs on the Apple TV set-top box. He also played two songs from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band -- complete with high-detail album art -- while showing the iPhone's music playback functions. Lastly, keen-eyed viewers pointed out the disproportionately large number of Beatles albums in the iPhone's music library.

While the notion of the two Apples settling their grievances has seemed implausible in the wake of Apple Corps' embarassing legal defeat at the hands of its Californian rival, reports since the completion of the lawsuit point to a sudden willingness on the part of the Apple Corps to sign an agreement.

In November, Fortune magazine made the initially audacious claim that the two vocal opponents would put aside their differences to bring The Beatles to both iTunes Store and iPod ads in one fell swoop.

For those who haven't yet seen the Macworld keynote rebroadcast, photos of The Beatles' influence on the presentation are available below.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Bergermeister]

Please be true!

Don't have any Beatles stuff at the moment, so this will be wonderful... IF THEY ALSO RELEASE IN JAPAN.

[addabox]

Really, is there any possible way that the obvious Beatles product placement in the keynote doesn't signify something in the works?

I'm having trouble imagining the scenario wherein Jobs just decides to throw a bunch of Beatles stuff into the iPhone demo for the hell of it.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by Bergermeister

Please be true!

Don't have any Beatles stuff at the moment, so this will be wonderful... IF THEY ALSO RELEASE IN JAPAN.

Enough about Japan already!!

[Ireland]

Eagled eyed AI member, and fellow iTunes keynote subscriber and watcher "Ireland" (that's me) has solved the final piece of this puzzle. I have conclusive proof that Apple have indeed signed an agreement with the Beatles to make their music available through iTunes. How you ask? Simple. It was something Jobs said 43:00 minutes into the keynote, and it just occured to me what it really meant. He touted the quality and beauty of the Album Artwork, but particularly when point out the Beatles Sargent Peppers Album; "Look at this gorgeous album artwork here!" Well if the Beatles' songs wont be available on iTunes, and artwork of songs or albums you rip can only be downloaded if the songs are (or will be in Apple case) in the iTunes Store. Then why would Steve be touting Album Artwork provided by a third party? To me anyway, this clearly shows that he was referring to the Artwork he was pointing at because it was good quality, but most importantly because it was from iTunes, i.e. from Apple.

Keep in mind Steve doesn't really say things on a whim when he does one of this keynotes. An example of this is the joke about the 4000 latte's, afterwards it was spotted on his notes at that pulpit. If he prepares his jokes, you can rest assured everything else he did and said was prepared too, as always.

[Eduardo]

Never mind iTunes, I cannot wait for the remastered CD's (since I already have every CD after 'Rubber Soul')!!!

[abrooks]

Originally Posted by Ireland

If he prepares his jokes, you can rest assured everything else he did and said was prepared too, as always.[/B]

Minus his clicker going wrong and suddenly jumping into a story about him and Woz, unless.......

[samurai1999]

Yes, it looks likely
- how else would Album Art get on the iPhone unless they (Apple Inc) had the rights to it?

Even the name change is a sign that things between the two companies are more amicable now
- the original Apple Computer name was deliberately chosen to differentiate the company from Apple Corp

But I must admit that I hadn't considered that the Woz story was a 'plant'!

[JLL]

Originally Posted by Eduardo

Never mind iTunes, I cannot wait for the remastered CD's (since I already have every CD after 'Rubber Soul')!!!

Hopefully the remasters won't be compressed which seems to be very popular these days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ

[eAi]

Well, even standup commedians prepare their jokes, so it isn't that suprising.

[samurai1999]

Originally Posted by eAi

Well, even standup commedians prepare their jokes, so it isn't that suprising.

Exactly!

And the mark of a great performer is to make something that has been thoroughly rehearsed look spontaneous!

[Commodus]

I think you're reading too much into that. He was probably pointing out that album art looks good on the screen, full stop - not that this particular album's art was great (although it is, but that's another matter).

If you're going to point to that segment as evidence, it's just the existence of high-res, properly formatted album art and the obvious sign that Jobs' sample iPhone was preloaded with several Beatles albums, not just one or two.

Originally Posted by Ireland

Eagled eyed AI member, and fellow iTunes keynote subscriber and watcher "Ireland" (that's me) has solved the final piece of this puzzle. I have conclusive proof that Apple have indeed signed an agreement with the Beatles to make their music available through iTunes. How you ask? Simple. It was something Jobs said 43:00 minutes into the keynote, and it just occured to me what it really meant. He touted the quality and beauty of the Album Artwork, but particularly when point out the Beatles Sargent Peppers Album; "Look at this gorgeous album artwork here!" Well if the Beatles' songs wont be available on iTunes, and artwork of songs or albums you rip can only be downloaded if the songs are (or will be in Apple case) in the iTunes Store. Then why would Steve be touting Album Artwork provided by a third party? To me anyway, this clearly shows that he was referring to the Artwork he was pointing at because it was good quality, but most importantly because it was from iTunes, i.e. from Apple.

Keep in mind Steve doesn't really say things on a whim when he does one of this keynotes. An example of this is the joke about the 4000 latte's, afterwards it was spotted on his notes at that pulpit. If he prepares his jokes, you can rest assured everything else he did and said was prepared too, as always.

[franksargent]

[blue2kdave]

I mentioned this before in a different thread, but the whole reason Apple was "Apple Computer" from the beginning was to avoid a lawsuit from Apple Corps. The fact that Apple has dropped the word computer, indicates to me a deal has been struck. They've probably wanted to do this for a long time.

[digitalclips]

Originally Posted by abrooks

Minus his clicker going wrong and suddenly jumping into a story about him and Woz, unless.......

You guessed it! Woz has also signed and his next Album with HQ art work will be on the iTunes store by Easter.

[ascii]

Well they better get those Beatles songs up there soon, or all the original fans will have died of old age and be unable to buy them.

[kresh]

Does Apple Corps have anything other than the Beatles catalog? If Apple comes to an agreement with them I was wondering if there was anything besides the Beatles that could be added. Not to imply that the Beatles wouldn't be enough

[Galley]

I'd much rather have The Capitol Albums Vol. 3 (and subsequent volumes) on CD.

[franksargent]

Originally Posted by kresh

Wow, I didn't realize that Apple was so popular in China. Look at all those Apple circuit boards, they must have sold billions of Macs there. 8)

Why those <expletive deleted> GP wankers! Well there's more than one way to skin a GP cat!

They done changed their "Green My Apple" image, I liked the previous one, if you've seen it, it was a graphic of a Granny Smith apple a la the Apple 2007 graphic that was out prior to MWSF07.

[kresh]

Originally Posted by franksargent

Why those <expletive deleted> GP wankers!

They done changet their "Green My Apple" image, I liked the previous one, if you've seen it it was a graphic of a Granny Smith apple a la the Apple 2007 graphic that was out prior to MESF07.

Yeah I noticed, had to change my entire post

[digitalclips]

Originally Posted by ascii

Well they better get those Beatles songs up there soon, or all the original fans will have died of old age and be unable to buy them.

That hurt

[franksargent]

Originally Posted by kresh

Yeah I noticed, had to change my entire post

I grabbed a different (more appropriate) graphic from the GP website. Take that GP!

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by samurai1999

Exactly!

And the mark of a great performer is to make something that has been thoroughly rehearsed look spontaneous!

Yes, it's even better than fake sincerity!

[willrob]

Since all the songs Jobs played (or that were played at the Keynote) required permission (and a fee) to be played at all, we can at least believe that Apple and Apple are on commercially friendly terms. The same restrictions apply to the cover art work—without permission, Jobs would not be able to use it.

I'm not sure if the Paul McCartny divorce has anything to do with the delay, as some have suggested, but waiting to Feb 14th does give Apple's stock some good news in a season that is otherwise a bit of a doldrums.

[ALM]

Indeed, compare words from A Day In The Life:

I read the news today oh, boy
Four thousand holes in blackburn, lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the albert hall
I'd love to turn you on

and Jobs joke about 4000 lattes.

CONFIRMED!!!!

[tundraboy]

I expect the new widescreen iPods will be announced on the same event. Perhaps even a special Beatles iPod. That might be just enough to lure Macca (okay and Ringo, but it's no good if it's just Ringo) to appear onstage with Jobs.

[Cubert]

"how else would Album Art get on the iPhone unless they (Apple Inc) had the rights to it?"

You can download album art from many 3rd party websites for free.

[Cubert]

If this is true, it would be a much better Valentine's Day present this year for Mac users vs. last year's Oompa Loompa Trojan release on Valentine's Day.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by abrooks

Minus his clicker going wrong and suddenly jumping into a story about him and Woz, unless.......

I never said he couldn't improvise in an emergency, I just meant he normally doesn't, he prepares. He's not acting on stage, he's selling, and the best salesmen have a plan.

[Wojciechowski]

Unless they are newly re-mastered albums, I won't be buying them. When Apple Corps put the Beatles catalog to CD, they did a horrible job of mastering the albums. There are many dynamics that sound much better on the original vinyls.

Anyone who wants the albums closer to what they originally sounded like I would suggest trying to find the Dr. Ebbetts remastered bootlegs...

http://www.bootlegzone.com/files.php?section=1&pub=160

[quinney]

Originally Posted by ALM

Indeed, compare words from A Day In The Life:

I read the news today oh, boy
Four thousand holes in blackburn, lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the albert hall
I'd love to turn you on

and Jobs joke about 4000 lattes.

CONFIRMED!!!!

Best post since "Paul is dead"

[Ireland]

[Flounder]

Originally Posted by Ireland

I never said he couldn't improvise in an emergency, I just meant he normally doesn't, he prepares. He's not acting on stage, he's selling, and the best salesmen have a plan.

Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if he's got a "something went screwy and I need to fill time" anecdote ready for every keynote.

[cnocbui]

[QUOTE=JLL;1027068]Hopefully the remasters won't be compressed which seems to be very popular these days:

The best way to get music onto your iPod is to buy the CD's and rip them yourself. That way you can decide whether you use Apple lossless or not or the amount of compression you want. You also dont have to 'wait' for the material to appear in the iTunes store.

I have had the Beatles box set for well over a decade and it was one of the first things I put on my iPod.

Cnocbui

[addabox]

Originally Posted by tundraboy

I expect the new widescreen iPods will be announced on the same event. Perhaps even a special Beatles iPod. That might be just enough to lure Macca (okay and Ringo, but it's no good if it's just Ringo) to appear onstage with Jobs.

That would be an enormous coup, and put the iPod back front and center as the über-cool device just at the right time (what with Zune mutterings and iPhone mania and stock option scandals and what-not).

Steve takes the stage and says "I buried Bill! Koo-koo-kachoo!"

[addabox]

Originally Posted by Cubert

"how else would Album Art get on the iPhone unless they (Apple Inc) had the rights to it?"

You can download album art from many 3rd party websites for free.

Sure, but you don't do that if you're Steve Jobs giving a keynote address at MacWorld regarding your most important product in years.

It's not show and tell, it's a huge corporation with strategic partnerships and a road map for world domination. Nothing happens casually, especially when very obviously including Beatles stuff is going to get everybody talking. Why would Steve knowingly set-up that kind of anticipation if he knew it would go nowhere? He may be an unusual CEO but he's not insane.

[mycatsnameis]

Originally Posted by quinney

Best post since "Paul is dead"

I was thinking he should have used "I Am the Walrus" as one of the tunes in the Keynote. That would have been a nudge and a wink in the direction of what was coming next given teh huge contoversy sparked by the original.

I thought for sure he would ahve used Revolution (1) at some point during the Keynote for obvious effect as well ...

[addabox]

Somebody refresh my memory: I thought the Beatles catalogue had been sold several times, going at least through Michael Jackson? Was that something other than the reproduction rights of the original recordings themselves?

I'm curious what Apple Corps' actual asset value is at this point-- my impression was that they are little more than a holding company (and a vague impression it is, since I actually don't know what that means, exactly).

What I'm getting at, is there a chance that Apple would simply buy Apple, whatever entity that is at this point, lock, stock and Revolver?

Would that involve paying out the no doubt billions and billions of dollars the catalogue is worth? Or would it be more some kind of legalistic transfer of licensing rights?

I know it doesn't really make sense, but I seem to recall a very old interview with Jobs within which he admitted that he named Apple Apple because of the Beatles (in fact, I believe that interview was used as evidence in the Apple Corps lawsuit).

I could see Jobs regarding the union of the two as a kind of cosmic alignment of grooviness. You know he sees Apples hardware as carrying forward something of the spirit that the Beatles embodied in their day, and bullshit thought that may be, I bet the idea has great attraction for the old hippy in him.

[baygbm]

This is silly. Is there anyone left who wants a Beatles song that doesn’t already have it? Or can’t get it elsewhere legitimately or for free. Bah!

[Maddan]

Makes sense because the last thing Apple Corps would want to do is lose the appeal. A settlement avoids that possibility but has no effect on any other trademark actions.