Warning: This post contains lots of conspiracy theories, speculation and Beatles talk. Just so you know.
If don't get what I'm pointing at, look at my friggin' post title.
Hear me out on this theory: I've been trying to figure out why The Beatles' Catalogue has never been on iTunes, with the exception of the members' solo works. It came down to a list of terms that all parties could not agree on, as well as certain conditions that were not yet right.
Before I go on to say what's on this list, perhaps I should clarify that there are certain common factors that people blame on as the stumbling block, but actually aren't. MJ (who held the rights), McCartney, Ringo, Yoko, Olivia Harrison, they all want the deal.
The stumbling blocks (in my deduction, after doing some research) came down to money, politics, and the goods.
a) Money
If George Harrison's son is to be believed, there was a big issue with the pricing. If you remember, songs cost 99cents or 79p per track. Well, Perhaps The Beatles deserve a little bit more? That's what the music label and the band members / members' spouses felt.
Now that iTunes has a higher pricing tier ($1.29/£0.99), Perhaps they're happier now?
b) Politics
Apple Inc. vs Apple Corp. was a pretty significant stumbling block that stopped the music of not just the Beatles, but also the members' songs, from being sold on iTunes. They settled in 2007, and McCartney's songs were available for download not long after. So what about the Beatles as a band?
When McCartney was interviewed in late 2008, he said that "The record company was taken over by new people quite recently, so there is a gridlock of sorts.". Which record company? Some say it's EMI (which I doubt, since EMI and Apple were in cahoots in releasing the iTunes Plus DRM-free service). Others point to Apple Corp, claiming the Apple Inc vs Apple Corp lawsuit I mentioned above. It could also be ATV/Sony - the 'label' Jackson owns - which holds the rights to the catalogue. We might never know. But perhaps this politics hullabaloo is not the issue anymore. Why? Well, You probably heard of the "Rock Band: The Beatles" game that's coming on the 9th of September 2009 (09.09.09). That's one way to get Beatles Tracks in digital form right there! Surprised? Well, let me move on to my third point...
c) The Goods
Let's face it. The Beatles' music is mostly recorded in the 60's - the pre-moon-landing era. And we know what happened to the moon landing tapes, don't we all? The original tapes were erased, and whatever that was left had to be remastered because it looked... well... genuinely in need of tweaks courtesy of some specialists. The same is true of music recordings. You have to remaster those old records. Make them sound more MP3 than gramophone. Heck, add stereo!
This is probably one of the most important piece in the puzzle that was missing. The digital remastering of the entire Beatles Catalogue. Only once this has been done, then are those Beatles tracks a) deserving of being sold online, and b) deserving of a $1.29/£0.99 per track price tag.
So, now that the Beatles tracks are being/have been remastered, the arrows of lawsuits have been chucked away, and the pricing settled, perhaps we might see that "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band" album alongside "Thriller" on the iTunes album chart?
Summary:
Factors that have probably hindered the Beatles Catalogue from being on iTunes...
*Pricing
*Past discrepancies
*Digitizing & Remastering needed
*The perfect date - 09.09.09, in conjunction with the Rock Band game and Remasters CDs.
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