Beatles songs become available as downloads

Norwegian podcasts originally broadcast in 2001 featuring songs by The Beatles have been made available – marking the first time songs by the band can be legally downloaded.

Under a new deal between Norwegian broadcasting company NRK and music rights holder TONO the podcasts, which feature spoken information (in Norwegian) about Beatles songs plus the songs themselves, are available to download from Nrk.no/podcast.

According to Nrk.co, all 212 of The Beatles' recorded works will be featured in the podcast series, which will be made available throughout January.

Around 14 episodes are currently online. The podcasts are available because they contain less then 70 per cent music – a requirement outlined under the deal.

The Beatles have not made their back catalogue available to download legally. In November Sir Paul McCartney said that download-related talks between representatives for the band and their former label, EMI, had "stalled".