Just when it seemed that The Beatles might be going digital, plans to make the fab four’s entire catalog available for legal download were brought to a halt this week. The collection was to be offered as part of a series of podcasts stemming from the Norwegian documentary series, “Our Daily Beatles.”
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The podcasts, which were obtainable digitally in Norway, feature journalists relaying the story behind each and every song before playing the song itself. Only a handful of the 212 episodes were made available before the project was pulled . . . and not by The Beatles’ Apple Corps., who has had infamous feuds with online outlets like Apple Inc.and their iTunes application.
According to Rolling Stone magazine, The Norwegian Broadcasting Co., or NRK, pulled the series, citing a law that states the “NRK can not podcast programs with foreign music if the radio program was broadcast more than four weeks ago.” The documentary series was broadcast in 2007 and any plans to replay the series to meet this time requirement have been somewhat passively ignored.
“We could have done it [replay the series], but choose not to,” the NRK said. Maybe it’s the integrity of their commitment to the four-week policy, or maybe it’s the idea that Apple Corps. lurks in the background ready to pounce on anything Beatles-digital. “It has recently been reported that a Norwegian broadcasting company, NRK, will make Beatles music available for download via a series of podcasts,” Apple Corps. said. “These podcasts are not authorized.”
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