London
(ANI):
The
Beatles
have
finally
agreed
to
make
their
songs
available
on
iTunes
for
the
first
time,
it
has
emerged.
The
band's
surviving
members
Sir
Paul
McCartney
and
Ringo
Starr,
and
the
widows
of
John
Lennon
and
George
Harrison,
have
so
far
held
out
against
making
their
music
available
digitally
but
are
finally
ready
to
embrace
the
digital
age,
reports
the
Telegraph.
Digital
outlets
have
enabled
fans
to
buy
tracks
for
a
fraction
of
their
former
price,
but
the
Beatles
would
likely
see
a
boom
in
sales
if
they
made
their
back
catalogue
available
to
buy
online.
The
band,
who
refused
to
sell
their
songs
on
CD
until
1987,
have
finally
agreed
to
allow
digital
releases
exclusively
through
iTunes,
the
Financial
Times
reported.
The
decision
comes
two
years
before
the
50-year
copyright
protection
on
the
Beatles'
earliest
work
is
to
due
to
begin
running
out.
'Love
Me
Do',
the
band's
first
single,
released
in
October
1962,
will
lose
its
copyright
in
late
2012.
Rumours
that
the
Beatles
were
ready
to
step
into
the
digital
age
were
fuelled
by
an
announcement
on
the
iTunes
website,
which
read:
"Tomorrow
is
just
another
day
that
you''ll
never
forget.
Check
back
here
tomorrow
for
an
exciting
announcement
from
iTunes."
The
band's
record
label,
Apple
Corps,
and
the
software
company
have
been
divided
by
a
long-standing
argument
about
music
sales.
In
an
interview
earlier
this
year,
McCartney
said:
“It's
been
business
hassles.
Not
with
us,
or
iTunes.
It's
the
people
in
the
middle,
the
record
label.
There
have
been
all
sorts
of
reasons
why
they
don't
want
to
do
it."