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Just as quickly as the “official” word came through yesterday, it seems that was not quite as “official” as we would have hoped. According to even more recent reports The Beatles tracks will not be heading to iTunes just yet.

“There is no deal for the music of the Beatles to go to iTunes or be sold anywhere on the Internet for downloading,” Roger Friedman reports for FOXNews.com.

So as of now both Apple and the current music rights owners have denied that The Beatles tracks will be appearing on iTunes anytime soon. While we here at Gadgetell are excited about the Beatles hitting iTunes, we will try and limit our next report to when the tracks are actually available for purchase.

Via [MacDailyNews]

After what has amassed to literally years of Beatles and iTunes speculation and rumors ranging from everything to having the music added to a Yellow Submarine branded iPod.

Well, and I say this as a huge Beatles fan, I am glad to say its not the Yellow Submarine iPod that has come true, but instead it’s much more exciting news as the complete Beatles catalog will soon be hitting iTunes. Thanks to a reported $400 million deal, signed by Sir Paul McCartney who seems to be benefiting the most. However Ringo Starr as well as the families of both John Lennon and George Harrison will also benefit. We also cannot forget the record labels, EMI, Sony and Michael Jackson who all own at least partial shares of the collection as well. 

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NASA plans on beaming The Beatles Across the Universe into space making it the first song to be used in such a way. The transmission of the song will mark the 40th anniversary of the song’s recording. It will be aimed at the North Star, Polaris, 431 light years away from Earth, and it will travel across the universe at a speed of 186,000 miles per second. This will also mark 50 years of NASA, 45 years of the Deep Space Network and 50 years since the founding of Explorer 1, the first US satellite.

“Amazing! Well done, Nasa! Send my love to the aliens.” was Sir Paul McCartney’s reaction to the news.

Fans can participate in the event by playing the song around the world at midnight GMT on Monday night - the same time it will be transmitted by NASA. Still no word yet on when we might see the mysterious “Yellow Submarine” branded iPod. Perhaps the little green men can help Steve Jobs with that.

Read [VNUnet]

Ever since word got out about the Beatles library being released for digital music download, rumors have gone wild.  Recently, the Beatles / Apple Corp. and Apple Computer made nice over their long standing trademark dispute.  Seeing as they are playing nice now, we were expecting a big announcement from Apple Computer at the Super Bowl regarding some type of exclusive Apple / Apple partnership.  In fact, Roger Friedman of Fox News had an opportunity to speak with Neil Aspinall of the Beatles’ Apple Corps.  Here’s what he had to say regarding the availability of the Beatles’ albums:

“The Beatles, sources say (and not Aspinall, whom I didn’t even discuss this with), may have won royalties on Apple iTunes/iPod hardware as part of the settlement. The settlement didn’t address downloading. But now Aspinall says that when the Beatles songs do get put on the Internet officially, ‘it will be on all the services, not just one.’ So all the Beatles songs will be found on iTunes, Rhapsody, etc.”

Read [Fox News] Via [MacDailyNews]

It all began with Apple suing Apple for copyright infringement. Things got dirty fast but it seems that Apple and Apple may actually end up getting along (who would have thought).

Are you totally confused? Apple Corps (The Beatles’s music label) and Apple Computer (you know, the iPod/iTunes folks) have had some issues over the past few years but the latest reports are ones of sweet harmony. Not only will iTunes be the only digital music store where you will find the best catalog of music of all time but the mop-tops may also secure their own iPod (aka the U2 iPod).

Read [Fortune] Via [iLounge]Via [Gizmodo]

I believe the folks over at Gear Log said it best:

Do you want to know a secret? It’s been a long and winding road, but something happened yesterday. From me to you, let’s hope that this is not a rumor: The Beatles have confirmed to release their music through digital music services. Don’t let me down, Paul. This is serious stuff. It’s bad enough that Michael Jackson owns the rights to your songs (but according to this Forbes article, Jackson may be forced to sell half of his stake in his music-publishing catalog, which includes 251 Beatles songs).

Speaking during the Apple Corps versus Apple Computer trial in the UK High Court last week, Apple Corps label boss Neil Aspinall confirmed the plans to release songs on an online music download service. Aspinall said that Apple Corps is remastering the Beatles catalogue to make it sound better and that it is assembling digital booklets to accompany the downloads.

Offering this collection exclusively on a single online music service will either offer a huge boost (to struggling services such as Sony Connect or Napster) or secure iTunes as the dominant player. If your wondering Sir Paul McCartney gave video iPods away to everyone who accompanied him on his US tour last year.

Read [Gear Log]