Beatles remasters in the works
Neil Aspinall, the managing director of the Beatles' company Apple, revealed that the group is making plans to digitally remaster its back catalogue. The fab four fan website whatgoeson.com reported that last week during his testimony against Apple Computers in London, Aspinall told the court that, "We're remastering the whole Beatles catalog, just to make it sound brighter and better and getting proper booklets to go with each of the packages."
Aspinall added that the company is planning to have the entire catalogue revamped before finally making the albums available online: "I think it would be wrong to offer downloads of the old masters when I am making new masters. It would be better to wait and try to do them both simultaneously so that you then get the publicity of the new masters and the downloading, rather than just doing it ad hoc."
So far none of the group or solo catalogues are available for legal downloading online. The Beatles' catalogue was first released on CD in 1987 and 1988.
Two recent collections, 1999's Yellow Submarine Songtrack and 2003's Let It Be... Naked, were the first new releases featuring completely remixed versions of Beatles classics. There's no word whether the group's other albums will also receive new mixes as well.
Last week, the Beatles' company and Apple Computers, gave closing arguments during the latest bout in the trademark battle over the specifics of the "Apple" name and logo. The fab four filed suit over two years ago after Apple Computers launched their iTunes Music Store, and claimed that the online music service broke the 1991 agreement that prevents the computer company from using its trademark for products "whose principal application is music."
Neil Aspinall, who went to grammar school with Paul McCartney and George Harrison, started out as the Beatles' roadie in 1962. He is the one person to have never left the Beatles employment since their days clubbing around Liverpool. He has been Apple's managing director since 1973.
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Aspinall added that the company is planning to have the entire catalogue revamped before finally making the albums available online: "I think it would be wrong to offer downloads of the old masters when I am making new masters. It would be better to wait and try to do them both simultaneously so that you then get the publicity of the new masters and the downloading, rather than just doing it ad hoc."
So far none of the group or solo catalogues are available for legal downloading online. The Beatles' catalogue was first released on CD in 1987 and 1988.
Two recent collections, 1999's Yellow Submarine Songtrack and 2003's Let It Be... Naked, were the first new releases featuring completely remixed versions of Beatles classics. There's no word whether the group's other albums will also receive new mixes as well.
Last week, the Beatles' company and Apple Computers, gave closing arguments during the latest bout in the trademark battle over the specifics of the "Apple" name and logo. The fab four filed suit over two years ago after Apple Computers launched their iTunes Music Store, and claimed that the online music service broke the 1991 agreement that prevents the computer company from using its trademark for products "whose principal application is music."
Neil Aspinall, who went to grammar school with Paul McCartney and George Harrison, started out as the Beatles' roadie in 1962. He is the one person to have never left the Beatles employment since their days clubbing around Liverpool. He has been Apple's managing director since 1973.
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