Details on Beatles iTunes Deal ... Superbowl announcement expected

DEAL FOR BEATLES ON iTUNES IN THE WORKS

By TERRY OTT, SPECIAL TO THE SUN

The worldwide Beatles grapevine is buzzing over the distinct
possibility that the long-awaited remastering of the Fab Four's United
Kingdom CD back catalogue will finally see the light of day -- by June.

As per usual, Apple/EMI is presently mum, but sources with knowledge of
the project say that two scenarios are possible for the release of the
minimum 11 UK albums.

What's more, the long, heated court feud between the Beatles' Apple
Corp. and Apple Computers over naming rights might finally have been
resolved. The belief is that Beatles songs at long last will be
available for downloading from Apple Computers' iTunes, as soon as next
month.

As for the remasters, when CD versions of the Beatles' UK albums were
first released some 20 years ago, they came out chronologically over a
year, from their first LP, Please Please Me, to their final offering,
Let It Be.

Sources say if a chronological release occurs this time, the timeframe
would be much quicker, from March to June of this year.

The second strong possibility is that the entire state-of-the art,
24-bit remastered UK catalogue will hit stores the first week of June,
to commemorate the 40th anniversary of what many call the Fabs' finest
hour -- the release of their ground-breaking Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band album.

SPECIAL DEAL FOR PEPPER

Although there is a chance that Sgt. P will be given a special
treatment -- in a box set, with both stereo and rare mono mixes --
little is being said about any extras for the other catalogue albums,
other than that a compilation CD might be made available.

Even though EMI had a strong outing with the LOVE soundtrack in 5.1
Surround Sound last year, there's no word on whether any of the new UK
remasters will have any multichannel content, which is highly coveted
by die-hard fans and audiophiles.

As for the Apple vs. Apple battle, the buzz is that two companies
apparently will finally collaborate on Beatles music -- for an
exclusive three-month, restricted deal allowing Apple Computers'
popular iTunes to offer downloaded, remastered Beatles songs, perhaps
even before the CDs are made available.

Apple Computers plans a "special" announcement scheduled for a Super
Bowl commercial on Feb. 4, which may give more indication as to where
the new remastered CDs will debut first.

"I'm amazed at the possible Apple/Apple alliance," said Steve
Marinucci, who runs the award-winning Abbey Rd website. "The Beatles
can still surprise us after all these years."

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