Reports: Apple strikes iTunes Beatles deal

Nov 16, 2010, 11:08 GMT

San Francisco - Apple has struck a deal to bring The Beatles catalog to the iTunes store and will announce details of the arrangement at a press conference scheduled for Tuesday morning, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported late Monday.

The deal will end a long-standing hold-out by the most successful music group of all time against making their music available online.

Adding further spice to the development is the long standing trademark dispute between the technology company and the supergroup, which published much of its music through a company called Apple Corp.

No details were given as to what prompted the change of mind on the part of the two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison. But CDs' share of the market for new music is steadily declining and the band did brave the digital waters last year when it licensed an anthology of its songs for use in the video game Rock Band.

It's also still unclear whether the deal encompasses all the music recorded by The Beatles, whether fans will be able to buy songs individually or just complete albums, and what price they will have to pay.