AfterDawn: News

McCartney predicts Beatles going digital in 2008

As an expanded version of his latest album and new DVD are hitting the shelves, Paul McCartney has been talking to Billboard about the possibility of Beatles' music making its way to digital download services like iTunes. "It's all happening soon," McCartney told Billboard.com. "Most of us are all sort of ready. The whole thing is primed, ready to go -- there's just maybe one little sticking point left, and I think it's being cleared up as we speak, so it shouldn't be too long."

He added: "It's down to fine-tuning, but I'm pretty sure it'll be happening next year, 2008." The Beatles are among the most famous artists in the world without a legal digital presence on the Internet. As a court case between Apple Inc. and Apple Corps. (Beatles' music company) was settled, it seemed to open the doors to the music potentially becoming available on the iTunes service.



"You've got to get these things right," McCartney said. "You don't want to do something that's as cool as that and in three years' time you think, 'Oh God, why did we do that?!" The solo catalogs of all four Beatles have been available online since October.

Source:
Reuters

Written by: James Delahunty @ 16 Nov 2007 10:54

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• 5 comments

• c1c

  Doesn't Michael Jackson own all the rights to Beatles songs?
  
  In 1985, ATV's music catalog was sold, and Michael Jackson was the high bidder. Jacko paid a reported $47 million for the publishing rights to somewhere between 159 to 260 Beatles songs.

  16.11.2007 19:16 #1

• ZimHosein

  Originally posted by c1c: Doesn't Michael Jackson own all the rights to Beatles songs?
  
  In 1985, ATV's music catalog was sold, and Michael Jackson was the high bidder. Jacko paid a reported $47 million for the publishing rights to somewhere between 159 to 260 Beatles songs.I believe he did but I thought I read something about him having to sell the rights a while back IIRC c1c.

  17.11.2007 22:49 #2

• cousinkix

  Wacko Jacko had to sell off his Beatles catalog about a year ago. The lawyers bills are coming in for the cost of that circus trial in California. The kinky little boys fetish caught up to him eventually. The last I heard, Jacko was living in Dubai or one of those Islamic kingdoms in the Middle East.
  
  That NeverLand amusement park and the zoo is for sale too...

  18.11.2007 08:35 #3

• borhan9

  All Paul wants is a piece of the digital pie royalties. He should be happy with what he already has he already has enough money for the rest of his life time and i dont see the point of him doing this.

  11.12.2007 07:05 #4

• A_Klingon

  Originally posted by borhan9: All Paul wants is a piece of the digital pie royalties. He should be happy with what he already has he already has enough money for the rest of his life time and i dont see the point of him doing this.Just go P-2-P. The Beatle's catalog. It's all there. Everything.
  
  (Don't tell Jesus-Juice-Jackson that, though. His remaining Beatles-publishing-rights are about the only thing that's gonna save his sorry ass at this point).

  12.3.2008 06:03 #5