So, the friend of a friend told me that the Beatles is finally going to be on iTunes tomorrow.

Not so fast, EMI immediately countered.

In the latest chapter of a saga filled with more "will they, or won't they?" than a shoujo manga, Engadget picked up a 9to5Mac report today stating that Yoko Ono is talking about an iTunes arrival for the Beatles on an already Fab Four-packed 9/9/09. We've already speculated about it once, but Yoko's words caused the Twitter feeds to immediately jump alive with fevered speculation that maybe, just maybe, tomorrow's finally the day.

I'm with Steve Sande. Seeing Paul, Ringo, Julian Lennon and Dhani Harrison (who helped mastermind The Beatles: Rock Band -- my reservation was made for the game six months ago) on stage together to announce the Beatles on iTunes would be fantastic. However, I'd rather see the release be done right than thrown together at the last minute. The optimistic side of me is sure that it won't be long before the Beatles and iTunes will be goin' steady for good.

As intrepid TUAW reporter Mike Schramm told you a few days ago, Apple has an event planned for September 9, 2009. Pundits are expecting the event to be the usual Apple fall event where the new line of iPods will be announced, but there's something else happening on September 9th that could herald the long-awaited arrival of The Beatles in the iTunes Store.

The Official Beatles Shop website is showing 9/9/09 as the release date for new, digitally remastered versions of the entire Beatles library. That's also the day that The Beatles: Rock Band is released. What better way for Apple to finally bring Apple Corps into the digital age than to give the Fab Four a home in iTunes?

Of course, the Beatles and Apple, Inc. have had a tumultuous legal history, and recently George Harrison's son Dhani Harrison was quoted in Blender as saying he didn't feel that the iTunes Store's per-song charge was a fair price for Beatles songs. He also mentioned that the remaining members of The Beatles were looking into creating their own website for digital downloads. Given the shaky history of most Beatles business ventures, I wouldn't give that comment a second thought.

Just last month, Sir Paul McCartney told the Guardian that in terms of the Beatles library appearing in iTunes, "The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process... I really hope it will happen because I think it should."

Frankly, I think the music world and Apple both need a little magic right now, so I'm hoping to see Steve Jobs, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Dhani Harrison, and Julian Lennon on stage together on September 9th. That would be even better than an announcement of a Mac tablet.

Lost in the din of yesterday's Macworld announcements and video was a story from NRK that they've pulled down the "Our Daily Beatles" podcast -- featuring all 212 songs available for free -- citing contractual obligations with an organization that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide.

The three players in the debacle are NRK (Norway's publicly-funded broadcasting company), TONO (managers of the rights for Norwegian composers and writers), and IFPI (which represents the rights of international record companies). While NRK and TONO are happy with their contractual agreement to release the podcast, IFPI is not.

NRK's contract with IFPI states that they can only create podcasts for shows aired on the radio in the last four weeks where music accounts for less than 70 percent of the show's length. Since "Our Daily Beatles" was aired in 2007 (and not 2001 as they originally stated, but that's neither here nor there) it falls outside the bounds of the agreement. NRK, rather than air the broadcast again to comply with IFPI's rules, instead decided to pull the podcast offline.

NRK is negotiating with IFPI to update their contract to match the one they have with TONO. Their current agreement expired at the end of last year, but apparently NRK is still bound by its terms.

NRK had originally posted the podcast on Sunday.

The Beatles could have all their songs on iTunes, but not the way you might think: via a podcast describing the story behind each song, released by a Norwegian broadcasting company.

NRK is podcasting its segment called "Our Daily Beatles" that chronologically tells a three-minute story of every Beatles song ever written -- 212 of them -- along with the song in its entirety. NRK offers its podcast of the segment here.

According to its website, NRK says it has procured the rights to publish podcasts of all its previously-broadcast radio and television programs that contain less than 70 percent music.

While not an ideal way to download the entire Beatles catalog specifically for the music, the podcast is free.

Apple has been negotiating with Apple Corps and the various owners of the Beatles' catalog to offer the music on iTunes. Last word was in November, when Paul McCartney said that talks broke down.

Thanks, Kenken!

Update: Unfortunately, the podcast has been pulled offline, citing legal concerns.

Talks between Apple, Inc., Apple Corps, and EMI to bring the Beatles catalogue to the iTunes Store have "stalled," according to a statement by Paul McCartney to the Associated Press.

McCartney said, "The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process." He told the BBC that "heavy negotiations" were in progress with EMI, who said they were "working hard to secure agreement with Apple Corps."

My ill-informed, Captain Obvious guess? Someone's holding out for more money. The AP oddly suggested that the holdup is related to a trademark dispute between Apple Corps and Apple, Inc. which was settled in court last year.

McCartney continued, "I really hope it will happen because I think it should."

[Via Cult of Mac.]

UK newspapers such as the Daily Mail and the Telegraph are reporting on an expected deal between Sir Paul McCartney and Apple, Inc. to bring the Beatles catalog to iTunes. According to the Telegraph, the deal could be worth as much as £300 million ($600 million US). An Apple Corps label spokesperson said that the date "has not yet been set." The Daily Mail story suggests that Sir Paul may be motivated to do the deal now as a means of funding his divorce settlement. Ouch.

The Telegraph also reports that albums like Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the White Album and Help "will be available from iTunes," and are expected to top the charts for downloads. They also say that there is no word yet on how the the two surviving Beatles, and the heirs of Lennon and Harrison, will split the revenue from music sales on iTunes.

Is this the first time we've heard reports of the Beatles catalog coming to iTunes momentarily? No. Does this seem a bit more credible than earlier stories? Yes. To be fair, the tech columnist for the Guardian paper says he's spoken to Apple Corps flacks and they say no deal is finalized. Still, happiness is a warm Beatles/iTunes story.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

The Beatles are now on iTunes-- kind of. George Harrison has become the last solo Beatle to be added to the iTMS, as iTunes now carries all of his solo work (including "Got My Mind Set on You"-- enjoy having that in your head for the rest of the day). That means that all the Beatles have now had their solo work added to the online store. There's John, Paul, now George, and that other guy. If you want them all, it's gonna take money, a whole lot of precious money. It's gonna take plenty of money, to do it right child. Stuck in your head yet?

And yet we still wait (well, most of us do) for the Beatles as a whole to appear on iTunes for purchase. It's become a kind of mythical event, hasn't it? Someday, the heavens will break open, earthquakes will rend the ground under our feet, and the world will end around us, but hopefully not before we can buy the White Album at the ITunes store.

Thanks, Eric!

What a week for Apple fans. After a slow Labor Day, we got a huge midweek event, new iPods, and what turned out to be the week's biggest story: the iPhone is now $399.

MobileChat iPhone AIM Client Debuts
Started off the week with not one but two IM iPhone betas.

MarsEdit 2.0
Red Sweater's blogging client gets a new interface and Flickr integration

Mass-media messup: NBC doesn't get the iTunes store
Nik tells us why the peacock should leave the pricing to Apple.

Ask TUAW: External Front Row, iSight mirroring, booting from an external HD, and more
You ask, we answer, and you don't even have to pay an extra buck just to read it for 30 seconds on your iPhone.

The Beatles: whatever
Scott doesn't care if the Beatles showed up on Wednesday or not.

Metaliveblogging "The Beat Goes On" event
What's the next best thing to being in Moscone West? Reading our commentary about it.

iTunes: Free Wednesday
Featuring Dave Matthews and The Pick Up Artist (not the same person).

iPhone ringtones on the cheap
Get all of the ringtones, with none of the price.

Apple screwed you. So now what?
The most useful thing we posted all week.

Bye, bye HiFi
Apple's speakerbox gets an inconspicuous farewell.

Found Footage: Quicksilver Google Tech talk
Sure, Quicksilver's creator isn't the best public speaker, but if you're interested in UI design at all, this is a must-see.

Apple giving early iPhone buyers $100 credit
Steve gives some back. Thanks early adopter whiners!

iTunes 7.4 breaks iPhone hacks
A speedbump (albeit a very, very small one) for iPhone hackers.

Why did Apple drop the price?
We consider the reasons behind this week's biggest surprise.

Well the one rumor that I thought was least likely (that the Beatles were a no go at this morning's event) turned out to be true. There is still no Beatles music available on the iTunes store, either in the WiFi store or otherwise.

Not that Steve didn't taunt us. Over and over again, he threw down hints the whole time-- he played "Give Peace a Chance" as a ringtone (joking that it was for when NBC called), played Lennon to demo the new WiFi store, and played Paul McCartney to bring the chairman of Starbucks on stage. Heck, the name of the event was "The Beat Goes On." He knows we want the Beatles (even if Scott doesn't), and he played with our emotions all day.

But when "One more thing..." came out, it was the Starbucks deal and KT Tunstall performing. And we're left with no idea when (or if ever) we'll be able to buy Apple recordings in Apple's online music store.

The mood in TUAW's secret underground bunker is electric as thoughts of tomorrow's media event float in our heads. New iPods? Probably. Something unexpected? Perhaps. The Beatles in iTunes? Who cares?

Yeah, I said it. We have been covering the Beatles in the iTunes Store saga for over 3 years here at TUAW (3 years this month, actually. Clearly it is a sign from the Universe!), and I must admit I have never understood what all the fuss is about. Sure, I like the Beatles which is why I already own all their music, and I am sure most other Beatles fans do as well. Furthermore, the Beatles aren't some small, no name band. You can walk into any CD shop (new or used) or log onto any online purveyor of physical CDs and buy any number of Beatles albums which is why I find it so perplexing that every single rumor involving the iTunes Store and iPods always has something about the Beatles tacked on. It is as if the rumor sites don't think anyone will believe their wacky tales if there isn't a, 'Oh, and Steve's cousin's wife's best friend's college roommate has it on good authority that the Beatles are totally going to be on iTunes soon. Oh, and multi-touch Cinema Displays with built-in iSites are coming soon as well. Ringo loves his.'

Since when did the entire Mac community become obsessed with the Beatles?

Clearly, we all know that Steve is a fan which explains why their songs are often played at Apple events and show up in Apple screenshots, but I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't like at least one Beatles song (yes, this is where the contrarian out there comment about how they have a deep and abiding loathing for the Beatles. The comment form is right down there, fellows!).

Honestly, I have no idea why people have gotten themselves in such a froth over the possibility of the Beatles catalog becoming available on iTunes. If that is announced tomorrow it will the least exciting thing to come out of the event, unless of course this event turns out to be another iPod HiFi/Leather Case non-event.

I just hope we still won't be speculating about this when I'm 64 (you didn't expect this post could end without a lame Beatles joke, did you?).

No Beatles next Wednesday? Like pretty much everyone else, I figured the whole "Beat" goes on thing, not to mention that the third Beatle got added to iTunes recently, all pointed to next week's event as not only showing off new iPods, but Beatles music to play in them (and I wasn't the only one-- mockups are all over the place).

But now the rumor mill (so, again, grain of salt with all of this) says it's a no go on the Beatles. There will be a new iPod, and supposedly a brand new Ringtones system will be brought to the iPhone, where you can use iTS purchased music as a ringtone, but we won't actually meet the Beatles.

Then again, no one really knows but Apple-- Gruber speculates that since the event is being held at Moscone West, McCartney will be on hand to play live. And let's be realistic-- even though there is evidence for both a new iPod and the whole ringtones thing, no one's really sure what's going down anyway.

So, as usual, we'll have to wait until next Wednesday to find out (or at least until next Tuesday, when the New York Times confirms what blogs have been saying all alone). What do you think?

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

You may not be able to buy the Beatles' music as a group from iTunes, but you can buy most of the member's solo stuff. Lennon, McCartney, and now Starr. That's right, Mr. Conductor's music is available on iTunes including Photograph: The Digital Greatest Hits (which is an iTunes Plus album).

One more thing to note about Ringo, other than he has the best name our of anyone in the Beatles, is that he is a Mac user. I was poking around his personal website, and stumbled across his photography section. Those certainly look like Photo Booth pictures to me.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Imagine all the people... downloading John Lennon's songs. It isn't hard to do-- John Lennon's music is now available on the iTunes store as of last night. Right around 3AM, reader Ricky (thanks!) saw the graphic above pop onto the store, and noticed that Working Class Hero, among other albums, had arrived, and then disappeared about half an hour later. He speculated that they were working on a full release today.

And he was exactly right-- Apple has announced that sixteen of Lennon's solo works are now for sale on the iTS, including the "digital debuts" of the Lennon Legend and Acoustic collections. Additionally, for the next 30 days, six of the albums will include exclusive video content-- Working Class Hero looks like it has a "Give Peace a Chance" video on it, and Imagine includes a video for the classic title track. And all of the albums are available not only regular price ($.99 a song), but also at iTunes Plus prices, which means $1.29 a song, but completely DRM free.

First Paul McCartney, now Lennon, and the Beatles has to be just around the corner. Power to the people, right on!

Thanks, Ricky and Zack!

Everyone seems to be very excited about the possibility of the Beatles catalog being available on iTunes. Now, I'm a fan of the Beatles, but it seems to me that everyone who is big into the Beatles already has all their work, and even if they were missing somethings the real fans would demand high quality tracks than those currently available on iTunes (it would be great if the tracks were DRMless though).

That being said, I am sure some folks are excited about Sir Paul McCartney's announcement that his next release will be his first available for download via iTunes. He also says that the Beatles catalog is very close to being available online.

[via Digg]

Another hurdle on the way to an eventual Beatles-on-iTunes debut has been cleared. Today, ContactMusic reported that Apple Corps has settled with EMI over unpaid royalties. Apparently, this ongoing dispute has been one of the issues that has blocked online digital distribution of Beatles tracks. This settlement may allow EMI to distribute Beatles songs online in the near future. If so, you may soon see the Beatles showing up in iTunes. It's been a long and winding road and we're still not near the end.

Thanks Jeff Kirk & everyone who sent this in.