June 23, 2008

By By Antony Bruno, Denver

As the music world continues to wait for the Beatles to bring their iconic catalog to iTunes for digital sale, talks reportedly are underway that may see the Fab Four's music included in videogames first.

According to an account in the Financial Times, representatives for The Beatles are in discussions with the creators of the "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" music videogames.

Both games allow users to download and play new music on a regular basis, although tracks bought for the game can't be transferred to a portable MP3 player or computer.

The Beatles catalog at this point is considered the Holy Grail of digital licensing, given the group's unwillingness thus far to make the catalog available in any digital retail format.

Of the two, "Guitar Hero" has been more aggressive at releasing special expansion packs dedicated to specific bands. The "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" game will hit retail shelves before the end of this month, and is reportedly working on a Metallica version for this holiday season.

"Rock Band," meanwhile, has a more expansive downloadable sales effort, with new tracks released every week, and is the only game offering full album downloads as well.

Any Beatles deal with either game would have to pass muster with both EMI Music and Apple Corps.

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