At a recent industry conference, David Munns, head of EMI America, said the Beatles would be available online “soon.” Apple and EMI were hoping to make a splashy announcement to coincide with the November 21st release of “Love,” a mashup of Beatles songs that serves as a soundtrack to a Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil production. That didn’t happen. Recently though talks have resumed again. According to a music industry executive apprised of the talks, they are discussing how lengthy a window of exclusivity iTunes might get and how many tens of millions of dollars Apple will commit to an advance for the band and marketing costs. Also being discussed is whether the band would be willing to take two steps at the same time and endorse the iPod by allowing its music to be used in a commercial. Another scenario making the rounds is the prospect of the Beatles following U2’s example with a branded iPod. “If the Beatles were in an iPod ad, that would be humongous,” this executive said. Are we the only ones who don’t really care if the Beatles get on iTunes or not? We all own the CD anyway… The Superbowl kicksoff 4th February.
