The Beatles albums are to be made available on iTunes, it was confirmed this afternoon.
The legendary pop group's 13 albums can now be downloaded through the world's biggest digital music retailer, Apple said today.
"I am particularly glad to no longer be asked when Beatles are coming to iTunes," Ringo Starr said in a statement. "At last, if you want it you can get it."
The songs will be sold for €1.29 each, albums at €12.99, and double albums at €19.99 -- in line with other premium-priced music on iTunes.
The deal comes after years of negotiating between Apple founder Steve Jobs, Beatles management company Apple Corps, and the Beatles label EMI Group.
Hopes for an earlier agreement were scuppered by concerns by guardians of the Beatles' legacy, including worries that the valuable song catalog could be devalued by selling individual songs or increasing the potential for digital piracy.
The availability of hit albums like Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Revolver and Abbey Road is expected to give a boost to digital music sales this quarter as fans download songs to fill up their iPods and other media players.
The earliest sign of the possibility of a deal came in 2007 after Apple settled a decades-long trademark dispute with the Beatles' own company, Apple Corps.
But Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon; Olivia Harrison, the widow of George Harrison; and the two living Beatles, Paul McCartney and Starr, had disagreements among themselves over whether to allow the music to be put into digital formats.
The announcement comes at a critical time for EMI's troubled owner, private equity firm Terra Firma, which this month lost a court case accusing Citigroup of tricking it into overpaying to buy the music company.