Yoko Ono: iTunes-Beatles deal still long way off

John Lennon's widow says negotiations between Apple and Apple Corps, the holding company controlling the Beatles' music, are still at an impasse.

One way to get a digital dose of The Beatles is through Rock Band. Harmonix

Yoko Ono said Beatles fans shouldn't hold their breath waiting for a deal that would allow them to buy the band's music digitally from online retailers such as iTunes.

In an interview Thursday with Reuters about an upcoming documentary on her New York life with late husband and Beatle John Lennon called "LENNONNYC," she said there were still a few sticking points that need to be worked out between Apple Corps, the holding company that controls the rights to the Beatles music and Apple, the company that owns the iTunes digital music store.

The two Apples have had a contentious past. One major issue was their shared name. The music holding company sued Apple, the computer maker, for using its name. The two sides settled their dispute in 2007. And many hoped it would lead to a deal where Apple Corps would finally begin offering the Beatles songs digitally. But three years later, and the two sides are still negotiating.

Apple CEO "Steve Jobs has his own idea and he's a brilliant guy," Reuters quoted Ono as saying in her interview."There's just an element that we're not very happy about, as people. We are holding out.

"Don't hold your breath...for anything," she said with a laugh, the news agency reported.

Ono, who is now 77 years old, has been blamed for breaking up the Beatles in 1970. Forty years later, she said that tensions have softened and that she and the other three equal shareholders of Apple Corps--Paul McCartney, bandmate Ringo Starr and Olivia Harrison, the widow of George Harrison--are in agreement over the last sticking points involved in the iTunes negotiation.

About the author



Join the discussion

Conversation powered by Livefyre

Don't Miss
Hot Products
Trending on CNET

Last-minute gift ideas

Under pressure? These will deliver on time
