Beatles to Earn Way More than Standard Royalty Contract from iTunes Deal

Added by Gary Dunn on January 4, 2011

It took a landmark deal between EMI and Beatles to bring popularity songs belonging to the iconic group to iTunes.

However, industry sources now reveal that the iTunes deal is even more exciting and path-breaking as compared to what was originally presumed.

According to media sources, iTunes has decided to pay royalties to the Beatles for each and every digital download by making a direct payment to the band’s company.

The songwriting mechanical royalties have been directed towards Sony’s/ATV music publishing, which is holding bulk of control over the song catalog. This means that iTunes is going to put a lot more money in the hands of the Beatles. Under a standard artist contracts, the download of digital music is treated as a retail sale.

In such a scenario, the wholesale revenue from retailers is collected by the publisher and a part is paid to the artist as royalty. For really big artists, this royalty may be one fourth of the total retail revenue.

Applying such a formula, Beatles ought to have earned 18-22.5 cents per track downloaded. However, the deal that has been signed resembles a licensing pact and is going to be worth a lot more for the group.