In order to secure the Beatles' music for iTunes, Apple agreed to pay the band's company (Apple Corps) directly, according to industry sources contacted by Reuters. The newswire agency notes that under a typical music contract, a label distributes a record, licenses songs from publishers, collects revenue from retailers and then makes royalty payments to the artists and the publisher. In the case of the Beatles and iTunes though, the digital download royalties are said to be going straight to Apple Corps, while the songwriting mechanical royalties are going to Sony
