iTunes deal 'could put Beatles back in the charts'

Published on Tuesday 16 November 2010 13:45

The Beatles are to be available on iTunes for the first time, following years of talks between record label EMI and Apple.

Each of the band's 13 remastered studio albums, including Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Revolver, The Beatles (The White Album) and Abbey Road, will be available to purchase and download for 10.99. Single songs will cost 99p.

Sir Paul McCartney said: "We're really excited to bring the Beatles' music to iTunes. It's fantastic to see the songs we originally released on vinyl receive as much love in the digital world as they did the first time around."

The deal was made possible after the Beatles' music label, Apple Corps, and Apple the computer company settled a trademark dispute in 2007.

Earlier in the year, Sir Paul hinted that part of the delay in reaching a deal was down to record label EMI. "There have been all sorts of reasons why they don't want to do it," he said at the time.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who is known to be a fan of the band, said: "Thanks to the Beatles and EMI, we are now realising a dream we've had since we launched iTunes ten years ago."

A spokesman for retailer HMV said: "This is a landmark event - the holy grail.

"What's particularly significant is that the Beatles are allowing individual tracks to be downloaded. This means that in the UK we could soon see a singles chart dominated by the Beatles' most popular songs."