Beatles being paid directly by iTunes

[Redneck4sure]

NEW YORK (Billboard) – It seems that the EMI/Beatles deal that finally brought the Fab Four's catalog to iTunes may be more groundbreaking than originally thought.

According to industry sources, iTunes is paying the Beatles' royalties from digital download sales in the United States directly to the band's company, Apple Corps, and is paying the songwriting mechanical royalties directly to Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which controls most of the Beatles' song catalog.

That suggests the royalty split could be more lucrative for the Beatles than it would be under the typical provisions of a standard artist contract, which treat digital downloads as a retail sale.

There is more to the story and you can find it on [url="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110106/music_nm/us_beatles_itunes;_ylt=Ar.zKSuCtCliwA0ynDWSBVaVEhkF;_ylu=X3oDMTJuYWs5Ymx2BGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwMTA2L3VzX2JlYXRsZXNfaXR1bmVzBHBvcwM2BHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrA2JlYXRsZXNiZWluZw--"]Yahoo!![/url]