Apple has created a dedicated channel for The Beatles in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. appearance of the 60s pop group on The Ed Sullivan Show. The show footage is available “for a limited time,” and you can listen to the U.S. albums which are also available on iTunes for the first time …
While Apple was able to secure iTunes deals with five major music labels when it launched in 2003, it was not able to reach agreement with The Beatles’ record company, Apple Records, because the two had been involved in a long-running dispute over ownership of the Apple brand.
The dispute was settled in 2007, but The Beatles catalog didn’t come to iTunes until late in 2010, when the launch was an immediate success, at one point making up a quarter of the top 200 songs on iTunes, and helping reverse a decade-long decline in music sales.
Apple used a clip from that first performance in its ad announcing the arrival of the group on iTunes.
Steve Jobs was a noted fan of The Beatles, even describing them as a model for Apple’s business.
It had initially looked like The Beatles wouldn’t feature on iTunes Radio, eventually being added just a few days before the launch of iOS 7.
