Apple Corps, The Beatles licensing company  have so far ignored the digital downloads market, but its reluctance doesn’t seem so daft now, given the phenomenal growth of karaoke-style play along games such as Rock Band. Although digital song sales brought in  over $2bn last year, most of which is through  Apple’s iTunes Store, the market for music-based games including Guitar Hero and Rock Band is half as large at $1.2bn, and is growing at a far faster rate.

The Nintendo Wii demonstrates how successful technology companies can be when they remember the basics. And it also shows how much real value can be generated - and real money returned to creators - when the music business thinks about licensing, rather than merely shifting units.

So with this recent move, are we any closer to seeing the tracks from the Beatles catalogue on the iTunes platform or the like.

Beatles fr Christmas No1 - 10 anybody?

Nowhere Legally!

Almost another month has passed and once again we are know closer, as far as we know the when and where the Beatles back catalogue will make its long awaited appearance in the digital world.

For now, all we can do is site back and wait, be patient and wait some more.

As mentioned in a previous post, once the Beatles Music becomes available, though someone like iTunes, the sheer volume of people downloading their favourite Beatles tracks to their iPod’s will be amazing, making many of their great songs take over the UK Charts. Perhaps they are waiting to dominate the pursuit of a Christmas No1.

If there are any Beatles fans, reporters, or just someone in the know, feel free to contact us with the details, just so we can reply to our readers with more than nowhere yet!

So where are we now?

Well, simply put, we are as close as we was this time last year. Even though the band have settled their disputes with their label EMI over royalties and with iTunes owners Apple over the use of the name, we don’t seem to be getting any closer.

I know for a fact that there are so many people out there simply waiting for this day to come, we hope that this will be sooner rather and later.

If anybody out there has any information on this subject, feel free to comment here.

We want legal Beatles Downloads and we want them now!

The first of the Beatles’ songs confirmed for use in an advert is All You Need Is Love, which first appeared on the Magical Mystery Tour album and was first performed by the Beatles on Our World, the first ever live world-wide TV satellite link-up, and reached an audience of 350 million people in 1967. The song is a 12/1 shot after first appearing at 25/1.

As a slightly different angle to the betting, some bookies are offering odds of 10/1 that the Beatles will have all ten tracks in the top ten at some point this year, something that will undoubtedly be strengthed if the combination of their use in TV ads and iTunes availability ever becomes a reality.

Latest Odds

 4/1 Hey Jude, 9/1 Yesterday, 10/1 Love Me Do, 10/1 She Loves You, 10/1 I Want To Hold Your Hand, 10/1 Help, 10/1 Can’t Buy Me Love, 10/1 Hard Days Night, 12/1 All You Need Is Love, 14/1 I Feel Fine, 14/1 Day Tripper, 14/1 Penny Lane, 14/1 Let It Be, 20/1 We Can Work It Out, 16/1 Get Back, 16/1 Something, 20/1 Ticket To Ride, 20/1 Strawberry Fields Forever, 20/1 Paperback Writer, 20/1 Eleanor Rigby, 22/1 Long And Winding Road, 25/1 From Me To You, 25/1 Eight Days A Week, 25/1 Lady Madonna, 28/1 Hello Goodbye, 33/1 Yellow Submarine, 50/1 The Ballad Of John & Yoko, 50/1 Come Together.

Le tusknow your thoughts. Do you think this is simply a load of rubbish?

Are Beatles downloads on the way now that EMI has settled the ongoing royalties row?

In a recent interview with Billboard, no less an authority than Paul McCartney stated that an agreement to make the Beatles downloads available is “virtually settled,” a comment recently reported on its Web site. In another recent interview, when asked if Beatles downloads were imminent, EMI spokeswoman Jeanne Meyer wouldn’t comment on McCartney’s remarks to Billboard, but answered, that she hopes “that it’s soon. In the Billboard story–which was a preview of an interview with McCartney, Sir Paul didn’t mention where Beatles downloads will be available first, but the Apple’s iTunes store would be a good bet. More fuel to this fire was added by a recent report by Fortune that Apple could be on the verge of becoming the exclusive online source for Beatles downloads for a limited time, such as three months. This would mean exclusive access not just to Beatles downloads but also the newly remastered versions of the British pop group’s earlier albums in any form such as Abbey Road. Most Beatles fans will agree that any music service offering Beatles downloads would be fixing a hole in its music offering and is long awaited by many.

So are the Beatles poised to transform themselves from digital laggards to digital trailblazers?

Unless EMI makes a special exemption for Beatles songs, the Fab Four’s music would not only be available for sale as downloads but would also be DRM-free at a time when most other major-label recording artists’ downloads will still be encumbered by usage restrictions. A good percentage of online music buyers have probably, at some point, tried downloading a Beatles song, only to be informed that none were available. Can you “Imagine” how many illegal Beatles downloads have taken place and do everyday because people can’t buy any of The Beatles online. Fab Four fans have been eagerly awaiting the day when the Beatles’ music would finally be released in digital form; this long awaited day is getting just that little bit closer.

So if or when this happens, will the strong sales of restriction-free Beatles downloads add further pressure on the likes of Universal Music Group, Sony-BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group to follow EMI’s lead. The Bottom line is you’re going to see Beatles downloads in the not-too-distant future. Having said this, it is not all joy forBeatles fans out there though, some wouldn’t be tempted by Beatles downloads, because they don’t really feel like paying a third time for the same music, especially as it would be lower quality than the CD and come with restrictions on how they could play and copy it. But with Beatles downloads accounting for 10% of total downloads, most Beatles fans will agree that any music service offering Beatles downloads would go some way into filling the gaps in their digital music collections. So if predictions are correct there will undoubtedly be a mad stampede for Beatles downloads, the minute they become legally available, so keep up to date with this ongoing saga by reguarly visiting www.BeatlesDownloads.co.uk and be one of the many that will enjoy the music of probably the greatest band the world had seen.

The former Beatles star, who at the time was busy with his bitter divorce, is said to have officially sanctioned the Internet download service to offer the band’s musical hits from albums such as “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” as reported a Saturday edition of the Daily Mail.

There have been many other newspaper reports surrounding the long awaited launch of the Beatles Music via digital download, but nothing, as far as we know, official has been made.

Despite the speculation the bookies are already offering the latest odds on which Beatles Track will be their next number one, with Hey Jude currently the favourite at 4/1 with Yesterday at a healthy 9/1.

So if the iTunes deal does go ahead, McCartney will not be the only one enjoying the profitable deal. Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr will receive a portion of the profits, as will the families of late Beatles stars George Harrison and John Lennon.

It has been a long time coming, but how long for now do we have to wait?