USA Today reports that after years of sitting out the digital music revolution, the surviving members of the Beatles have finally decided to 'let it be' and begin selling online downloads.
Neil Aspinall, who runs the Beatles' Apple Corps., made the announcement in a written statement to a London court earlier this month, where Apple Corps. is suing Apple Computer in a trademark dispute.
Aspinall said Apple is remastering the original Beatles recordings for eventual reissues, and wants the downloads to coincide with the remastered CD releases. "I think it would be wrong to offer downloads of the old masters when I am making new masters," Aspinall said, according to a Reuters account of the statement. "It would be better to wait and try to do them both simultaneously."
For music fans, reports of remastered Beatles CDs is 'huge' news, says Martin Lewis, a Beatles expert who hosts a radio show about the Fab Four on satellite radio network provider Sirius. "There have been quantum leaps in technology since the Beatles albums were remastered in 1986. This has been long overdue."