A month after Activision announced that Aerosmith would get a Guitar Hero sequel dedicated to their music, Martin Bandier, Chairman and CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, said he liked the idea a version of Guitar Hero dedicated to the Beatles. He added, "It's something we have talked about and something I'd like to pursue". Sony/ATV Music Publishing holds the copyrights to John Lennon-Paul McCartney's legendary music.
Source: The LA Times [ more info ]

Unfortunately Bandier's hopes for Guitar Hero: Beatles does not mean the game will come to pass. Activision would likely have to shell out a heck of a lot of money. I have little doubt that investment would be recouped in unit sales. Hell, I'd buy two copies for when I wore the first one out.

Now, not to muddy the issue here, but honestly, I'd rather see the Beatles come to Rockband. Or maybe come to both. It's quite possible that Bandier, like so many other people, is using the term Guitar Hero in a more general sense, referring to the genre rather than a specific game. **shrugs** I dunno. Ultimately Across the Universe has whetted my appetite for Beatles music all over again. And I'll take what I could get, Guitar Hero, Rockband, whichever.

The Beatles would be great for rockband or guitar hero. I would buy it for sure. Aerosmith im not so bothered with. Guess we will have to wait and see!

I'm still holding off for Guitar Hero : Arch Enemy, or Rockband : The Dillinger Escape Plan.

though I guess it'll be a bit of a challenge... im still playing on medium :P

I thought that Michael Jackson bought the Beatles catalog at auction in the mid 80's, beating out Paul...thus causing a rift between the two. Or did Jacko sell off the catalog to pay his massive creditors? Oddly enough, Paul told him that buying said catalogs was the real money maker since you can license out the tracks for commercials, etc. Or am I totally off base here?

I thought he recently (2-3 years ago when you're an old-guy is recently) sold that off to keep out of bankruptcy

Originally Posted by Neurohacker:

I thought that Michael Jackson bought the Beatles catalog at auction in the mid 80's, beating out Paul...?

heres the most simple explination i could find on the situation

Back in 1963, the Beatles gave their publishing rights to Northern Songs, a company created by their manager, Brian Epstein, and a music publisher, Dick James. Northern Songs went public in 1965, and John Lennon and Paul McCartney each had 15% of the company's shares, while Dick James and the company's chairman, Charles Silver, held a controlling 37.5% of shares. In 1969, James and Silver sold Northern Songs and its assets to the Associated Television Corporation (ATV).

In 1985, ATV's music catalog was sold, and Michael Jackson was the high bidder. Jacko paid a reported $47 million for the publishing rights to somewhere between 159 to 260 Beatles songs. A decade later, Jackson and Sony merged their music publishing businesses. Since 1995, Jackson and Sony/ATV Music Publishing have jointly owned most of the Beatles songs.

While the Jackson-Sony collection includes practically all of the Beatles' greatest hits, they don't have every little thing. Paul McCartney bought the rights to "Love Me Do," "Please, Please Me," "P.S. I Love You," and "Tell Me Why." Northern Songs never owned these early tunes, so they weren't included in the ATV deal.

In the past few years, the media has speculated that Jacko may need to sell the Beatles' rights to pay for his extravagant lifestyle and mounting legal costs. Sony reports that Jackson used his half of the Beatles' catalog as collateral for a loan from the music company. If Jackson defaults on the loan, Sony has the right to buy his share. In 2001, Jackson stated: "The Beatles catalogue is not for sale, has not been for sale and will never be for sale." But who knows? Maybe he'll try to take a sad song and make it better by cashing in.

Source: The Guardian(Apr 06) [ more info ]
Source: Fox News(Mar 07) [ more info ]

and concidering he has already defaulted on a bunch of his other loans i can expect it to be only a matter of time before sony owns full rights to that lot

<lit lighter held aloft> or <open & lit cell phone held aloft>

Because, I have very little rhythm and can only appreciate music as a listener.

I think if they came out with this I would break down and buy one of the new consoles. I haven't been caught up in the whole Guitar Hero thing, but yeah... The Bealtes would probably push me over the edge.

If I could pick my dream Guitar Hero/Rockband line up it would be Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, toss in some Eagles, and finish up with some Niel Young. That would be a damn fine guitar line up!

That said, I agree that Rock Band is the place for Beatles songs. And I also doubt that Jacko and Sony will let them be licensed for a fee reasonable enough to allow the rhythm game industry to use them as a basis for an entire game. Possibly a few DLC songs like RB did with the Grateful Dead or like GH did with No Doubt. But rather than the current $2.00/song rate for Rock Band DLC, they'd probably have to charge $5.00/song to break even. And that with cover versions. Feh!

More Clapton and Hendrix!

We have reason to hope though. As the cited article states, after years of begging, the American Idol folks were vinally able to get permission to do Beatles songs this season. Granted, most of the singers massacred the Beatles but still Sony/ATV let them have a go.

I think what we're seeing is that, even though existing royalties are still streaming in, the owners of the Beatles music are looking to leverage new consumers of their product moving into the next generation of listeners.