More information on that Beatles/EMI settlement we reported on yesterday. Actually, no more information at all really, the specifics of the deal remain confidential, but lots of speculation as to what the deal might mean re the long awaited arrival of the Fab Four online.
As previously reported, EMI yesterday confirmed it had reached an out of court settlement with the Beatles relating to a royalties dispute which the band went legal over in 2005. A spokesman for the major revealed little about the deal, except to say: "I can confirm that we have reached a mutually acceptable settlement and that we are not going to say anything more than that".
The deal ends eighteen months of legal wranglings which began after Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison launched a £30 million lawsuit that in turn followed two years of unsuccessful negotiations with EMI regarding royalties the former band members claimed they were due.
The deal is the latest in a string of stories which have fueled speculation that a digital release of the Beatles catalogue is imminent. As much previously reported, that settlement of the long running trademark dispute between the Beatles' company Apple Corps and iTunes owners Apple Inc was seen as one step towards the digital release. The forging of closer links between EMI and Apple in relation to the major's DRM-free catalogue has added to gossip iTunes is busy negotiating some kind of exclusivity deal regarding the digital launch of the Beatles, while the replacement of Apple Corps chief Neil Aspinall by former SonyBMG man Jeff Jones earlier this week has also been seen as pre-empting the release of the Beatles online. All of which means everyone now seems convinced a date will soon be set for the arrival of the Beatles on iTunes.
All of which is great news for all the Beatles fans who haven't already ripped every Beatles album to their PC or downloaded everything via P2P. Both of them.