In a deal worth nearly $402.4 million (£200million), and headed by former band frontrunner Paul McCartney, the full back catalogue of albums from The Beatles should be appearing once and for all in the iTunes Music Store. The deal should include such classics as Help! and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and will be iTunes's most lucrative download yet.
The deal has been long sought after by Apple and highly anticipated by fans. Music recorded by The Beatles nearly 40 years ago continues to sell in record stores. Paul reportedly claimed that the catalogue would be on it's way some time ago, but has been delayed due to the publishing rights being owned by several third parties, including Sony, EMI and the infamous Michael Jackson. It is now expected that the catalogue will finally appear in the iTunes store by the end of the year.
The deal will provide £200million as well as royalties from sales to surviving band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and to the families of the late John Lennon and George Harrison. It is suspected that the deal might be in part to pay for his divorce from Heather Mills.
