Apple / Beatles Deal - Image: Marcus Nunes (flickr.com CC-BY-SA)
It has been over a decade since the popular iTunes music service launched in conjunction with Apple’s iPod music device. However, one artist has been missing from the millions of songs that grace the database of the service. Those artists, The Beatles, were locked in a battle with Apple and Steve Jobs over royalties. Today that battle has finally come to an end.
The entire Beatles catalog has been officially released on the iTunes network and fans could not be happier. Within hours of the announcement, many of the Beatles albums topped the iTunes charts for most downloads.
This is the end of an era for both The Beatles and Apple. Rumors about the battle for the tunes made the rounds on internet forums for years. It has been well established, based on other such money wars, that Apple is notorious for being cheap when it comes to royalty percentages for artists on their iTunes service.
The two remaining Beatles members, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney both said that they are pleased that the music has finally made it to the service. “I was growing tired of being asked about when the music would make it to iTunes and not having an answer,” McCartney said in an interview after the announcement.
The Beatles were not the only holdouts. AC/DC, the famed rock band has withheld their tunes from the music download site over the payment of royalties. Several other artists have also stood firm against the powers that be at Apple.
