History: Early Years Of The Beatles

• Other digital formats
The Beatles were among the few major artists whose recorded catalogue was not available through online music services such as iTunes or Napster during the first decade of the 2000s. Residual disagreement stemming from Apple Corps' dispute with Apple, Inc. (owners and creators of iTunes) over the use of the name "Apple" was partly responsible, although in November 2008, McCartney stated that the main obstacle was that EMI "want something we're not prepared to give them." In March 2009, The Guardian reported that "the prospect of an independent, Beatles-specific digital music store" had been raised by Harrison's son, Dhani, who said, "We're losing money every day. ... So what do you do? You have to have your own delivery system, or you have to do a good deal with (Apple, Inc. CEO) Steve Jobs. ... He says that a download is worth 99 cents, and we disagree." On 30 October, Wired.com reported that an online service, BlueBeat, was making available the entire Beatles catalogue, via both purchasable downloads and free streaming. Neither EMI nor Apple Corps had authorized the distribution, and within a week BlueBeat was legally barred from handling the band's music. In December 2009, The Beatles' catalogue was officially released in FLAC and MP3 format in a limited edition of 30,000 USB flash drives. On 16 November 2010, the official canon of thirteen studio albums, Past Masters and the Red and Blue greatest-hits albums were made available on iTunes. A video recording of the band's first US concert in 1964 was also made available for purchase as part of a digital "boxed set" of the catalogue and for free streaming through the end of 2010.