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Following up the previous music-specific story of the day here on Mashable, it appears that Paul McCartney, previously a member of the fabled Beatles music quartet (the so-called Fab Four), has finally agreed to distribute the whole of the historied band's back catalogue for the sum of $400m. A portion of the profits will be given to Ringo Starr, another surviving member of the group, as well as the families of the late George Harrison and John Lennon, reports the UPI.

So far, the Beatles catalogue has been one of few in existence not secured by Steve Jobs and his iTunes enterprise. It has been suggested for a number of years that a deal was imminent at numbers moments in the past, only to be unsubstantiated. Now the news is permanently etched in stone - or what amounts for "stone" in age of the Web. And it appear that McCartney has kept his word. He said last November to expect an aggrement to be made within a year. His word has proven accurate. Look for the Beatles catalogue to arrive sometime later this year.

Perhaps this coming Tuesday? How enticing a prospect. However it is highly unlikely that iTunes's proprietor would exercise such haste when dealing with something so coveted the world over as the Beatles songbook. Instead, the service is likely to promote the impending delivery of albums such as Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Revolver extensively prior to their debut. Great sales are what iTunes is after, for sure, and arousing strong anticipation among its customer base is a standard practice among marketing forces that will no doubt be used. Particularly so in this case.

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