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Abbeyrd's Beatles Page reports 'unofficial and completely unsubstantiated talk' that Apple will have three months' exclusive rights to the band's recordings, including the recently released 'Love' album of remixes by producer George Martin.

'Conflicting information from our source said that they might be released both all together or in groups, as was done when the first Beatles CDs were released,' the site says. 'A compilation is also being discussed, but no firm details

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are available, the source says.'

Rumours that The Beatles are about to make their long awaited downloads debut have circulated since the band's label, Apple Corps, failed in its attempt to persuade a UK court that Apple Computer (now just Apple) was breaching the terms of an earlier trademark agreement by using the Apple name to distribute music through iTunes, although those rumours appeared optimistic as long as Apple Corps continued to pursue its appeal which is due to be heard later this year.

However when Apple CEO demonstrated the new iPhone's iPod capabilities last week, his choice of tracks suggested that the namesake's may at last have settled their differences, as he played two songs from the band's 'Sergeant Pepper' album.

If The Beatles do become available on iTunes, then under new UK chart rules that allow tracks from albums to be counted as singles sales even if they have not been released as such, the band may set a new record for chart success.

'If Beatles songs were available digitally, a top ten made up entirely of their music would be almost guaranteed,' said Gennero Castaldo, a spokesman for music retailer HMV.