Report: Beatles Might Sell Music Through iTunes

Watching the Beatles and Apple scrum over iTunes and the Apple name has been kind of like watching a parent and child argue over a perceived wrong the details of which the rest of the family has long since forgotten: "You said you weren't in the music business!" "I'm not making music, dad, I'm selling it for other people!" "Where did you learn such behavior?" "From you, Dad. I learned it from you!"

So it's pretty nice to read today in Fortune that the two Apples might be ready to play ball – and sell Beatles songs through iTunes.

As Fortune went to press, numerous deal points were still being hammered out. According to a music industry executive apprised of the talks, the parties were discussing how lengthy a window of exclusivity iTunes might get and how many tens of millions of dollars Jobs - who is said to be personally involved in the discussions - will commit to an advance for the band and marketing costs.

It's reported that EMI Records is playing the co-dependent mediator sibling to the warring factions of the distant Apple family, which makes a lot of sense – the record label guys know just how much money the Beatles are leaving on the table by keeping out of digital music. Radiohead is another EMI band that has shied from iTunes – the band and the label have split, but it would be some coup if they could work out an agreement for them, too.

This is all tenuous for the time-being, but we might all wake up tomorrow to a Beatles edition iPod – can it come with the Apple Corps logo on the back?

Apple's iTunes may get Beatles songs for listeners [Fortune]

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