Apple and Apple fine tune Beatles deal

Sir Paul McCartney has said that a deal to put The Beatles' music online is 'virtually settled'

The deal to make music from The Beatles catalogue available for purchase online is said to be nearly finalised, according to media reports. 

Sir Paul McCartney told Billboard that a deal to put the band's music online is virtually settled. 

The service that will offer the songs has not yet been disclosed, but it is widely expected to be Apple's iTunes store. 

The two companies have been in negotiations to put The Beatles on iTunes for months. A deal was said to be imminent after the band's Apple Corps label reached an agreement with Apple Inc partner EMI.  

Apple Corps and Apple Inc have long been at legal odds over trademark issues related to the 'Apple' brand.

Apple Corps filed suit in 1981 to ensure that Apple Inc would stay out of the music business. The battle became part of company lore, supposedly inspiring Apple Inc to name an alert sound 'sosumi' (pronounced 'so-sue-me'). 

McCartney's upcoming Memory Almost Full album will be available on iTunes via a special section in the iTunes store run by coffee chain Starbucks. 

The deal is said to be unrelated to any agreement with Apple Corps. Memory Almost Full is being released in North America through Starbucks' Hear Music record label.