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Ono! Sky lets Apple's Beatles secret slip

By Barry Collins

Posted on 9 Sep 2009 at 08:03

Sky News has accidentally revealed that the Beatles back catalogue will be made available on iTunes, ahead of Apple's official announcement.

Apple is widely expected to confirm later today that the remastered Beatles albums will be sold through its online music store.

Apple is famously secretive over forthcoming company announcements - but on this occasion it appears both Sky News and John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, didn't get the memo.

In an interview with Sky News, Ono revealed the Fab Four's entire back catalogue is set for release on iTunes.

The story appeared on the Sky News website and the news spread immediately on micro-blogging site Twitter. The story was hastily pulled from the Sky website (probably after an irate call from Apple HQ), but traces of the story are still lodged in Google's cache.

However, a report in the Financial Times today claims that the deal is far from done. The newspaper reports that record label EMI has doubts over releasing the Beatles albums on the now DRM-free iTunes because of fears over piracy.

"Conversations between Apple and EMI are ongoing and we look forward to the day when we can make the music available digitally. But it’s not tomorrow," Ernesto Schmitt, EMI’s global catalog president, told the FT.

Whatever happens, we won't have to wait long to find out. PC Pro will be reporting live from the Apple event this evening.

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User comments

EMI didn't get the other memo

No DRM = piracy EMI? Wake up and smell the 21st century! DRM = no sale!

Sorry, but all the Beatles albums were pirated a decade ago.

I saw a CD circulated in 1998 that had every Beatles album with its own player software and album art on one CD.

Since the original Beatles fans have already bought the songs on LP, tape and CD over the years and are unlikely to have MP3 players, there's only a small market there.

So its ex-Oasis fans who are still unaware of who those muppets were trying to emulate that you can sell to! Good luck!

By cheysuli on 9 Sep 2009

Remastered

I won't be buying them unless they are DRM free.

I disagree that there is no market. These are the remastered recordings, so they are in some small way 'new'.

Also, this is the first time we may have the chance to buy by track rather than by album. I'd buy 'Hey Bulldog' if I didn;t have to buy the whole Yellow Submarine album.

By Stiggy on 9 Sep 2009

I agree, this doesn't strike me as a great deal, merely iTunes trying a publicity stunt to freeze Spotify share.

By Shrikeh on 9 Sep 2009

EMI != logical

"record label EMI has doubts over releasing the Beatles albums on the now DRM-free iTunes because of fears over piracy"

If they don't release it then the only way for people to get it is via piracy.

By peterm2k on 9 Sep 2009

Well that looks like Yoko will be off the Christmas card list, though I doubt that she was ever on it. ;-)

By Amnesia10 on 9 Sep 2009

Well that looks like Yoko will be off the Christmas card list, though I doubt that she was ever on it. ;-)

By Amnesia10 on 9 Sep 2009

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