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Wikipedia

Apple Corps

May 01, 2023

Not to be confused with Apple Inc..
For other companies named Apple, see Apple (disambiguation).

Apple Corps Limited is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in London in January 1968 by the members of The Beatles to replace their earlier company (Beatles Ltd.) and to form a conglomerate. Its name (pronounced "apple core") is a pun.[1] Its chief division is Apple Records, which was launched in the same year. Other divisions included Apple Electronics, Apple Films, Apple Publishing and Apple Retail, whose most notable venture was the short-lived Apple Boutique, on the corner of Baker Street and Paddington Street in central London. Apple's headquarters in the late 1960s was at the upper floors of 94 Baker Street, after that at 95 Wigmore Street, and subsequently at 3 Savile Row. The latter address was also known as the Apple Building, which was home to the Apple studio.

Apple Corps Ltd.
Apple Corps' logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple
TypePrivate limited company
Industry
  • Entertainment
  • Mass media
Founded2 April 1968; 55 years ago (1968-04-02)
FounderThe Beatles
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Jeff Jones (CEO)
Revenue£18.6 million (2019)
£5.5 million (2019)
£4.4 million (2019)
OwnerPaul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison
SubsidiariesList of Apple Corps Subsidiaries
Websitewww.applecorps.com

From 1970 to 2007, Apple's chief executive was former Beatles road manager Neil Aspinall, although he did not officially bear that title until Allen Klein had left the company. The current CEO is Jeff Jones. In 2010, Apple Corps ranked number two on the Fast Company magazine's list of the world's most innovative companies in the music industry, thanks to the release of The Beatles: Rock Band video game and the remastering of the Beatles' catalogue.[2]

History

The Beatles' accountants had informed the group that they had £2m that they could either invest in a business venture or else lose to the Inland Revenue, because corporate/business taxes were lower than their individual tax bills.[3] According to Peter Brown, personal assistant to Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, activities to find tax shelters for the income that the Beatles generated began as early as 1963–64, when Walter Strach[4] was put in charge of such operations.[5] First steps into that direction were the foundation of Beatles Ltd and, in early 1967, Beatles and Co.[3]

The Beatles' publicist, Derek Taylor, remembered that Paul McCartney had the name for the new company when he visited Taylor's company flat in London: "We're starting a brand new form of business. So, what is the first thing that a child is taught when he begins to grow up? A is for Apple". McCartney then suggested the addition of Apple Core, but they could not register the name, so they used "Corps" (having the same pronunciation).[6] McCartney later revealed that he had been inspired by René Magritte's painting Le Jeu de Mourre, featuring an apple with the words "Au revoir" painted on it.[6] Harriet Vyner's 1999 book about the late lamented charismatic London art dealer Robert Fraser, "Groovy Bob", contains this anecdote by McCartney about the first time he laid eyes on the painting that would inspire the company logo in 1967:[7]

In my garden at Cavendish Avenue, which was a 100-year-old house I’d bought, Robert was a frequent visitor. One day he got hold of a Magritte he thought I’d love. Being Robert, he would just get it and bring it. I was out in the garden with some friends. I think I was filming Mary Hopkin with a film crew, just getting her to sing live in the garden, with bees and flies buzzing around, high summer. We were in the long grass, very beautiful, very country-like. We were out in the garden and Robert didn’t want to interrupt, so when we went back in the big door from the garden to the living room, there on the table he’d just propped up this little Magritte. It was of a green apple. That became the basis of the Apple logo. Across the painting Magritte had written in that beautiful handwriting of his ‘Au revoir’. And Robert had split. I thought that was the coolest thing anyone’s ever done with me".

Formation

On the founding of Apple John Lennon commented: "Our accountant came up and said 'We got this amount of money. Do you want to give it to the government or do something with it?' So we decided to play businessmen for a bit because we've got to run our own affairs now. So we've got this thing called 'Apple' which is going to be records, films, and electronics – which all tie up".[8]

Stefan Granados wrote in Those Were the Days: An Unofficial History of the "Beatles" Apple Organization 1967–2001, on the various processes that led to the formation of Apple Corps:

The first step towards creating this new business structure was to form a new partnership called Beatles and Co. in April 1967. To all intents and purposes, Beatles and Co. was an updated version on the Beatles' original partnership, Beatles Ltd. Under the new arrangement, however, each Beatle would own 5% of Beatles and Co. and a new corporation owned collectively by all four Beatles [which would soon be known as Apple] would be given control of the remaining 80% of Beatles and Co. With the exception of individual songwriting royalties, which would still be paid directly to the writer or writers of a particular song, all of the money earned by the Beatles as a group would go directly to Beatles and Co. and would thus be taxed at a far lower corporate tax rate".[9][10]

Now that a new business structure was found with a lower tax rate, Epstein mused what to do with it to justify it to the authorities, and originally thought of it mostly as a merchandising company, according to Lennon's first wife, Cynthia: "The idea Brian came up with was a company called Apple. His idea was to plough their money into a chain of shops not unlike Woolworth's in concept: Apple boutiques, Apple posters, Apple records. Brian needed an outlet for his boundless energy".[11] Personal assistant to Epstein, Alistair Taylor remembered:[12]

We set up an 'Executive Board' of Apple before Brian died, including Brian, the accountant, a solicitor, Neil Aspinall, myself, and then sat down to work out ways of spending the money. One big idea was to set up a chain of shops designed only to sell cards: birthday cards, Christmas cards, anniversary cards. When the boys heard about that they all condemned the scheme as the most boring yet. Sure that they could come up with much better brainwaves, they began to get involved themselves".[13]

In the middle of setting up the new company, manager Epstein died unexpectedly in what seemed an accidental sleeping pills overdose on 27 August 1967, which pressed the Beatles to accelerate their plans to gain control of their own financial affairs. In addition to providing an umbrella to cover the Beatles' own financial and business affairs, Apple was intended to provide a means of financial support to anyone in the wider world struggling to get 'worthwhile' artistic projects off the ground. According to Granados, this idea probably originated with Paul McCartney as the Beatle most engaged in London's local avant-garde scene, "McCartney was among the best-known exponents of swinging London".[14] Ringo Starr was quoted as saying of the venture:[15]

We tried to form Apple with [Brian's brother] Clive Epstein, but he wouldn't have it... He didn't believe in us I suppose... He didn't think we could do it. He thought we were four wild men and we were going to spend all his money and make him broke. But that was the original idea of Apple – to form it with NEMS... We thought now Brian's gone let's really amalgamate and get this thing going, let's make records and get people on our label and things like that. So we formed Apple and they formed NEMS, which is exactly the same thing as we are doing. It was a family tie and we thought it would be a good idea to keep it in".

McCartney at first had obviously intended to use Epstein's music publishing company NEMS Enterprises for these plans, but after Epstein's death it was learned that Australian Robert Stigwood was trying to get hold of NEMS.[16] All four Beatles were not in favour of such an outcome, as McCartney had previously told Epstein in 1967:[17]

We said, 'In fact, if you do, if you somehow manage to pull this off, we can promise you one thing. We will record God Save the Queen for every single record we make from now on and we'll sing it out of tune. That's a promise. So if this guy buys us, that's what he's buying'".

They hurried to set up Apple instead, and seeing that the Beatles would not be part of the NEMS package, Stigwood went to form his own company, RSO Records. The Apple logo was designed by Gene Mahon, with illustrator Alan Aldridge transcribing the copyright notice to appear on record releases. In January 1968, Beatles Ltd. officially changed its name to Apple Corps. Ltd. and registered the Apple trademark in forty-seven countries[18] In February the company also registered Apple Electronics, Apple Films Ltd., Apple Management, Apple Music Publishing, Apple Overseas, Apple Publicity, Apple Records, Apple Retail, and Apple Tailoring Civil and Theatrical with the intent on focusing on five divisions: records, electronics, film, publishing and retailing.

Lennon and McCartney introduced their new business concept on a press conference held on 14 May 1968 in New York City, with McCartney saying it would be, "A beautiful place where you can buy beautiful things… a controlled weirdness… a kind of Western communism".[19][20] Lennon said, "It's a company we're setting up, involving records, films, and electronics, and – as a sideline – manufacturing or whatever. We want to set up a system where people who just want to make a film about anything, don't have to go on their knees in somebody's office, probably yours".[21] McCartney also said: "It's just trying to mix business with enjoyment. We're in the happy position of not needing any more money. So for the first time, the bosses aren't in it for profit. We've already bought all our dreams. We want to share that possibility with others".[21]

Early administration

For the first few months of Apple's existence, it did not even have an office. Most of the company's business was conducted from the NEMS building. It was not until the autumn of 1967 that Apple finally opened a London office. Since the Beatles already owned a four-story building at 94 Baker Street that had been purchased as an investment property by their accountants, they decided that Baker Street was as good a location as any for Apple. In September they set up an office for Apple Publishing in the Baker Street building. With Epstein's death, there was nobody in the Beatles' inner circle with business acumen who could manage the company, and, as with their band affairs, the Beatles decided that they would manage it themselves.

 
Alistair Taylor in the "one-man band advertisement"

In December 1967, shortly after Epstein's death, Lennon asked Alistair Taylor to work as General Manager for Apple. It was during this period that Taylor appeared in the famous advertisement to promote Apple asking for new artists. Designed by McCartney, it showed him disguised as a one-man band, claiming: "This man has talent..." The publication in the New Musical Express and Rolling Stone brought an avalanche of applicants. The mail room, telephone switchboard, and conference rooms became jammed at all hours with "artists" begging the Beatles to give them money. George Harrison would later lament that "We had every freak in the world coming in there". Many of these supplicants received the investments they sought and were never heard from again.

Even though Apple was declared the most successful new record company of the year for 1968 before long the band members' ignorance of finance and administration combined with their naive, utopian mission of funding struggling, unknown artists left Apple Corps with no solid business plan.

The Beatles' naivete and inability to keep track of their own accounts was also eagerly exploited by the employees of Apple, who purchased drugs and alcoholic beverages, company lunches at expensive London restaurants, and international calls made regularly on office telephones, all of which would be treated as business expenses. Writers Alan Clayson and Spencer Leigh described the owners' hopelessness in managing their own creation:

Out of his depth, a Beatle might commandeer a room at Savile Row, stick to conventional office hours and play company director until the novelty wore off. Initially, he'd look away from the disgusting realities of the half-eaten steak sandwich in a litter bin; the employee rolling a spliff of best Afghan hash; the typist who span out a single letter (in the house style, with no exclamation marks!) all morning before 'popping out' and not returning until the next day. A great light dawned. 'We had, like, a thousand people that weren't needed,' snarled Ringo, 'but they all enjoyed it. They were all getting paid for sitting around. We had a guy there just to read the tarot cards, the I Ching. It was craziness".[22]

Aspinall finally agreed to direct the company on a temporary basis, simply so that someone would finally be in charge. When, in 1969, the Beatles engaged Klein as their manager, he also inherited the chairmanship of Apple Corps, which led to an immediate streamlining of company affairs: "Overnight, glib lack of concern deferred to pointed questions," wrote Clayson & Leigh. "Which typist rings Canberra every afternoon? Why has so-and-so given himself a raise of 60 pounds a week? Why is he seen only on payday? Suddenly, lunch meant beans-on-toast in the office kitchen instead of Beluga caviar from Fortnum & Mason".[23]

Beatles break-up and beyond

The first two years of the company's existence also coincided with a marked worsening of the Beatles' relationships with each other, ultimately leading to the break-up of the band in April 1970. Apple quickly slid into financial chaos, which was resolved only after many years of litigation. When the Beatles' partnership was dissolved in 1975, dissolution of Apple Corps was also considered, but it was decided to keep it operating, while effectively retiring or mothballing all its divisions. The company is currently headquartered at 27 Ovington Square, in London's prestigious Knightsbridge district. Ownership and control of the company remains with McCartney, Starr and the estates of Lennon and Harrison.

Apple Corps has had a long history of trademark disputes with Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.). The dispute was finally resolved in 2007, with Apple Corps transferring ownership of the "Apple" name and all associated trademarks to Apple Inc., and Apple Inc. exclusively licensing these back to the Beatles' company. In April 2007, Apple also settled a long-running dispute with EMI and announced the retirement of chief executive Aspinall.[24][25] Aspinall was replaced by Jeff Jones.[26]

Subsidiaries

Apple Corps operated in various fields, mostly related to the music business and other media, through a number of subsidiaries.

Apple Electronics

Apple Electronics was the electronics division of Apple Corps, founded as Fiftyshapes Ltd., at 34 Boston Place, Westminster, London. It was headed by Beatles' associate Yanni Alexis Mardas, whom Lennon had nicknamed Magic Alex.[27] Intending to revolutionise the consumer electronics market, largely through products based on Mardas' unique and, as it turned out, commercially impractical designs, the electronics division did not make any breakthroughs. After the dismissal of Mardas in 1969, during Klein's 'house-cleaning' of Apple Corps, Apple Electronics fell victim to the same forces that troubled the company as a whole, including the impending Beatles' break-up. It was later estimated that Mardas' ideas and projects had cost the Beatles at least £300,000 (worth approximately three million British pounds in 2007).[28][29]

Apple Films

 
The Apple Films logo, from the DVD release of The Concert for Bangladesh.

Apple Films is the film-making division of Apple Corps. Its first production was The Beatles' 1967 TV movie Magical Mystery Tour. The Beatles' films Yellow Submarine and Let it Be were also produced under Apple Films. Other notable releases included Raga (a 1971 documentary on Ravi Shankar), The Concert for Bangladesh (1972) and Little Malcolm (1974). The latter, produced by George Harrison, included the song "Lonely Man" by Dark Horse Records band Splinter. Apple Films was also responsible for producing Apple Corps' televised promotions.

The following is a list of releases from Apple Films, usually in the role of production company.[30]

Apple Publishing

Apple's music publishing arm predated the record company. In September 1967, the first artistes to be signed by Apple Publishing were two songwriters from Liverpool. Paul Tennant and David Rhodes were offered a contract after meeting McCartney in Hyde Park.[33] They were advised to form a band by Epstein after he and Lennon heard their demos, calling the group Focal Point.[34] Epstein was to have managed the band but died before he could become involved. Terry Doran MD of Apple Publishing became their manager and they were signed by Deram Records.[35] Apple published the group's self-penned songs from early 1968.[36] Another early band on its publishing roster was the group Grapefruit.[37]

Apple Publishing Ltd. was also used as a publishing stop-gap by Harrison and Starr, as they sought to shift control of their own songs away from Northern Songs, in which their status was little more than paid writers. (Harrison later started Harrisongs, and Starr created Startling Music). Apple's greatest publishing successes were the Badfinger hits "No Matter What", "Day After Day" and "Baby Blue", all written by group member Pete Ham, and Badfinger's "Without You", a song penned by Ham and Badfinger bandmate Tom Evans. "Without You" became a worldwide No. 1 chart hit for Harry Nilsson in 1972 and Mariah Carey in 1993. In 2005, however, Apple lost the US publishing rights for the work of Ham and Evans. Those rights were transferred to Bug Music, now a branch of BMG Rights Management.[38]

Apple also undertook publishing duties, at various times, for other Apple artists, including Yoko Ono, Billy Preston and the Radha Krishna Temple. Apple received a large number of demo tapes; some songs were published, some were issued on other labels and only Benny Gallagher & Lyle were retained as in-house writers before going on to co-found McGuinness Flint. Many of these demos have been collected on a series of CDs released by Cherry Red Records. They are entitled 94 Baker Street,[39] An Apple for the Day,[40] Treacle Toffee World,[41] Lovers from the Sky: Pop Psych from the Apple Era 1968-1971 and 94 Baker Street Revisited: Poptastic Sounds from the Apple Era 1967-1968.

Apple Books was largely inactive and had very few releases. One notable release was the book that accompanied the initial pressing of the Let It Be album, titled The Beatles Get Back, containing photographs by Ethan Russell and text by Rolling Stone writers Jonathan Cott and David Dalton. Although the book was credited to Apple Publishing, all of the work on the project was actually done by freelancers.[42][43][44][45][46]

Apple Records and Zapple Records

Main article: Apple Records

From 1968 onwards, new releases by the Beatles were issued by Apple Records, although the copyright remained with EMI, and Parlophone/Capitol catalogue numbers continued to be used. Apple releases of recordings by artists other than the Beatles, however, used a new set of numbers, and the copyrights were held mostly by Apple Corps Ltd. More than a "vanity label", Apple Records developed an eclectic roster of their own, releasing records by artists as diverse as Indian sitar guru Ravi Shankar, Welsh easy listening singer Mary Hopkin, the power-pop band Badfinger, classical music composer John Tavener, soul singer Billy Preston, folk singer James Taylor, R&B singer Doris Troy, New York underground rock band Elephant's Memory, original bad girl of rock and roll Ronnie Spector, rock singer Jackie Lomax, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and London's Radha Krishna Temple.

Since Apple's inception, McCartney and Lennon had been very interested in launching a budget-line label to issue what would essentially be known three decades later as "audio books". In October 1968, Apple hired Barry Miles, who co-owned the Indica bookshop with John Dunbar and Peter Asher, to manage the proposed spoken-word label. The initial idea of Zapple Records was that it would release avant-garde and spoken word records at a reduced price that would be comparable to that of a paperback novel. While the idea looked good on paper, the reality was that when the few records actually put out by Zapple finally made it into the shops, they were priced like any other full-priced music album.[47] Zapple Records was started on 3 February 1969, but after Klein was brought in to run Apple Corps' affairs, it was closed down after just two releases: Lennon and Ono's Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions, and Harrison's Electronic Sound.[48]

Apple Retail

Main article: Apple Boutique

The Apple Boutique was a retail store, located at 94 Baker Street in London, and was one of the first business ventures by Apple Corps. Lennon's schoolfriend Pete Shotton was hired as manager, and the Dutch design collective The Fool were brought in to design the store and much of the merchandise.[49] The store opened to much fanfare on 7 December 1967, with Lennon and Harrison attending (Starr was filming, and McCartney was on holiday). The boutique was never profitable, largely due to shoplifting, by customers and its own staff.[50] After Shotton resigned, John Lyndon took over but his management experience could not save the enterprise.[51] The store's remaining stock was liquidated by giving it away, after the individual Beatles had taken whatever they liked the night before its closure.[50] The boutique closed its doors on 31 July 1968.[51]

Apple Studio

"Apple Studio" redirects here. For the Apple Inc. subsidiary, see Apple Studios (production company).
 
Apple Studios in 1971

Apple Studio was a recording studio, located in the basement of the Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row. The facility was renamed Apple Studios after its expansion in 1971.

Originally designed by Alex Mardas, of Apple Electronics, the initial installation proved to be unworkable − with almost no standard studio features such as a patch bay, or a talkback system between the studio and the control room, let alone Mardas' promised innovations − and had to be scrapped. Nevertheless, the Beatles recorded and filmed portions of their album Let It Be in the Apple Studio, with equipment borrowed from EMI; during takes they had to shut down the building's central heating, also located in the basement, because the lack of soundproofing allowed the heating system to be heard in the studio.

The redesign and rebuilding of the basement to accommodate proper recording facilities was overseen by former EMI engineer Geoff Emerick, and took eighteen months at an estimated cost of $1.5 million. Beatles' technical engineer Claude Harper aided on the project, as well.[52] The studio reopened on 30 September 1971 and now included its own natural echo chamber, a wide range of recording and mastering facilities, and could turn out mono, stereo and quadrophonic master tapes and discs. In 1971, it would have cost £37 an hour (equivalent to £600 in 2023)[53] to record to 16-track, £29 an hour (equivalent to £400 in 2023)[53] to mix to stereo, and £12 (equivalent to £200 in 2023)[53] to cut a 12" master. George Harrison attended the launch party, along with Pete Ham of Badfinger and Klaus Voormann.[54]

The studio became a second home for Apple Records artists, although they also used Abbey Road and other studios in London, including Trident Studios, AIR Studios, Morgan Studios and Olympic Studios or elsewhere. The only Beatle solo release to use Apple Studio for a significant portion of its production was Harrison's Living in the Material World album of 1973, yet most of the recording is thought to have taken place at his Friar Park studio.[55]

The first projects to be carried out there after the re-opening were the recording of Lon & Derrek Van Eaton's Brother album,[52] and overdubbing and mixing on Badfinger's Straight Up.[56] Other artists such as Harry Nilsson, Nicky Hopkins, Wishbone Ash, Viv Stanshall, Stealers Wheel, Lou Reizner, Clodagh Rodgers and Marc Bolan (as shown in the movie Born To Boogie) also worked there. Apple Studio was closed down for good on 16 May 1975.

Legal battles

Apple Corps v. Apple Computer

Main article: Apple Corps v Apple Computer

In 1978, Apple Records filed suit against Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) for trademark infringement. The suit was settled in 1981 with the payment of $80,000 ($260,748.95 in 2022) to Apple Corps. As a condition of the settlement, Apple Computer agreed to stay out of the music business. A dispute subsequently arose in 1989 when Apple Corps sued, alleging that Apple Computer's machines' ability to play back MIDI music was a violation of the 1981 settlement agreement. In 1991 another settlement, of around $26.5 million, was reached.[57][58] In September 2003, Apple Computer was again sued by Apple Corps, this time for introducing the iTunes Music Store and the iPod, which Apple Corps asserted was a violation of Apple's agreement not to distribute music. The trial opened on 29 March 2006 in the UK,[59] and in a judgement issued on 8 May 2006, Apple Corps lost the case.[58][60]

On 5 February 2007, Apple Inc. and Apple Corps announced a settlement of their trademark dispute under which Apple Inc. took ownership of all of the trademarks related to "Apple" (including all designs of the famed "Granny Smith" Apple Corps Ltd. logos),[61] and licensed certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps for their continued use. The settlement ended the ongoing trademark lawsuit between the companies, with each party bearing its own legal costs, and Apple Inc. continued using its name and logos on iTunes. The settlement includes terms that are confidential.[62][63] Apple Computer later relied on the Beatles’ first use in 1968 to establish ownership and priority of the trademark APPLE MUSIC prior to a 1985 use by a musician of APPLE JAZZ for musical concerts.[64]

The website for Harmonix's The Beatles: Rock Band video game was the first evidence of the Apple, Inc./Apple Corps Ltd. settlement: "Apple Corps" is prominently referred to throughout, and the "Granny Smith" Apple logo appears but the text beneath the logo now reads "Apple Corps" rather than the previous "Apple". The website's acknowledgements specifically state that "'Apple' and the 'Apple logo' are exclusively licensed to Apple Corps Ltd".

On 16 November 2010, Apple Inc. launched the Beatles' entire catalogue in the iTunes Store.[65]

Apple versus EMI

The Beatles alleged in a 1979 lawsuit that EMI and Capitol had underpaid the band by more than £10.5 million. A settlement was reached in that case in 1989, which granted the band an increased royalty rate and required EMI and Capitol to follow more stringent auditing requirements.[66] Apple, on behalf of the surviving Beatles and relatives of the band's late members, again sued EMI for unpaid royalties, in a case beginning in 2005.[66][67] The case was settled in April 2007 with a "mutually acceptable" conclusion, which remained confidential.[25]

Apple versus Nike/EMI

In July 1987, Apple Corps sued Nike Inc, Wieden+Kennedy (Nike's advertisement agency), EMI and Capitol Records for the use of the song "Revolution" in a 1987 Nike commercial. Apple claimed that it was not informed of the use of the song and was not paid for continued use and therefore sued the four companies for $15 million.[68] EMI countered stating that the case was "groundless" to their claim they had the "active support and encouragement of Yoko Ono Lennon," who owns 25% of Apple Corps through Lennon's estate, and was quoted as saying: "[The commercial] is making John’s music accessible to a new generation." Apple's lawyer responded by stating that Apple cannot take action unless all four shares are in agreement, meaning that Ono must have supported the idea to take legal action at the moment when the decision was made. Harrison had the following to say about the unauthorised use of Beatles songs for advertisement as well as the importance of this particular case:

[E]very Beatles song ever recorded is going to be advertising women’s underwear and sausages. We’ve got to put a stop to it in order to set a precedent. Otherwise it’s going to be a free-for-all. It’s one thing when you’re dead, but we’re still around! They don’t have any respect for the fact that we wrote and recorded those songs, and it was our lives.

On 9 November 1989, the lawsuit was settled out of court. As with previous cases between Apple and EMI, a condition of the settlement was that terms of the agreement would be kept secret. It was suggested, however, by a spokesman of Ono that in the end of a very "confusing myriad of issues" there was a large exchange of money. Nike had also ceased to use the song for advertisement in March 1988.[69]

Notes

  1. ^ Brown, Peter; Gaines, Steven (1983). The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of The Beatles. London: Macmillan Publishers. p. 246. ISBN 0-333-36134-2.
  2. ^ "Most Innovative Companies". Mansueto Ventures LLC. from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b Cross 2005, p. 152.
  4. ^ 23 February 1965: The Beatles begin filming Help! in the Bahamas | The Beatles Bible
  5. ^ Brown & Gaines 2002, p. 117.
  6. ^ a b Cross 2005, p. 199.
  7. ^ Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser by Harriet Vyner, Faber, 317 pp, October 1999, ISBN 0-571-19627-6
  8. ^ "Lennon & McCartney Interview, The Tonight Show". Beatles Interviews. 14 May 1968. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  9. ^ Granados 2002, p. 6.
  10. ^ . Beatle Money. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  11. ^ Lennon 1978, p. 146.
  12. ^ Yesterday: The Beatles Remembered with Martin Robers, Pan Macmillan (1988), p. 108, ISBN 0-283-99621-8
  13. ^ Taylor 1988, p. 108.
  14. ^ Granados, Stefan. . Cherry Red Records. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  15. ^ Granados, M. Those Were the Days. p. 11.
  16. ^ Cross 2005, p. 191.
  17. ^ . Beatle Money. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  18. ^ Granados, M. Those Were the Days. p. 24.
  19. ^ Carlin 2009, p. 171.
  20. ^ "Uncontrolled Weirdness". New Internationalist. October 1990. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  21. ^ a b "John Lennon & Paul McCartney: Apple Press Conference". Beatles Interviews. 14 May 1968. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  22. ^ Clayson & Leigh 2003, p. 256.
  23. ^ Clayson & Leigh 2003, p. 257.
  24. ^ Kozinn, Allan (12 April 2007). "Magical Mystery Tour Ends for Apple Corps Executive". The New York Times.
  25. ^ a b Evans, Jonny (12 April 2007). "EMI, Apple Corps deal good news for iTunes?". MacWorld. from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  26. ^ "Beatles' friend quits top job at Apple Corps". NME. 10 April 2007. from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  27. ^ Blaney 2005, p. 23.
  28. ^ Campbell, Duncan (3 August 1979). "Alex Mardas". New Statesman.
  29. ^ "Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1264 to 2007". Measuring Worth. from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  30. ^ Harry Castleman & Walter J. Podrazik, All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography 1961–1975, Ballantine Books (New York, NY, 1976), pp 318–21.
  31. ^ Miles, Barry (2009). The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years. Omnibus Press. pp. 655–656. ISBN 978-0-85712-000-7.
  32. ^ Badman, Keith (2009). The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970-2001. Omnibus Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-85712-001-4.
  33. ^ Tennant & Willis 2008, p. 62.
  34. ^ Tennant & Willis 2008, p. 125.
  35. ^ Tennant & Willis 2008, p. 174.
  36. ^ Tennant & Willis 2008, p. 102.
  37. ^ Tennant & Willis 2008, p. 170.
  38. ^ Matovina 2000.
  39. ^ 94 Baker Street: The Pop Psych Sounds of the Apple Era 67–69. Rpm. 20 October 2003. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  40. ^ An Apple a Day. Rpm. 10 April 2006. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  41. ^ Treacle Toffee World: Further Adventures Into the Pop Psych Sounds from the Apple Era 1967–1969. Rpm. 27 October 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  42. ^ Granados, S. Those Were the Days. p. 44
  43. ^ Yesterday by Robert Freeman
  44. ^ Many Years From Now by Miles, In My Life by Pete Shotton
  45. ^ The Complete EMI Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn
  46. ^ The Beatles London by Mark Lewisohn and Peter Schreuder.
  47. ^ Granados, S. Those Were the Days. p. 76
  48. ^ Blaney 2005, p. 15.
  49. ^ Cross 2005, p. 218.
  50. ^ a b Cross 2005, p. 239.
  51. ^ a b Cross 2005, p. 238.
  52. ^ a b Apple US press release for Lon & Derrek Van Eaton's Brother album, September 1972. Retrieved 24 February 2012,
  53. ^ a b c UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  54. ^ Keith Badman, The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001, Omnibus Press (London, 2001), p. 50.
  55. ^ Simon Leng, While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison, Hal Leonard (Milwaukee, WI, 2006), p. 126.
  56. ^ Badman, The Beatles Diary Volume 2, p. 50.
  57. ^ Borland, John; Fried, Ina (23 September 2004). "Apple vs. Apple: Perfect harmony?". CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
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References

External links

  • The complete Apple Records
  • Beatles Ltd. at Companies House ("Filing History" tab includes the original foundation and renaming documents)
  • Overview of Beatles companies

May 01, 2023
apple, corps, confused, with, apple, other, companies, named, apple, apple, disambiguation, limited, multi, armed, multimedia, corporation, founded, london, january, 1968, members, beatles, replace, their, earlier, company, beatles, form, conglomerate, name, p. Not to be confused with Apple Inc For other companies named Apple see Apple disambiguation Apple Corps Limited is a multi armed multimedia corporation founded in London in January 1968 by the members of The Beatles to replace their earlier company Beatles Ltd and to form a conglomerate Its name pronounced apple core is a pun 1 Its chief division is Apple Records which was launched in the same year Other divisions included Apple Electronics Apple Films Apple Publishing and Apple Retail whose most notable venture was the short lived Apple Boutique on the corner of Baker Street and Paddington Street in central London Apple s headquarters in the late 1960s was at the upper floors of 94 Baker Street after that at 95 Wigmore Street and subsequently at 3 Savile Row The latter address was also known as the Apple Building which was home to the Apple studio Apple Corps Ltd Apple Corps logo featuring a Granny Smith appleTypePrivate limited companyIndustryEntertainment Mass mediaFounded2 April 1968 55 years ago 1968 04 02 FounderThe BeatlesHeadquartersLondon United KingdomArea servedWorldwideKey peopleJeff Jones CEO Revenue 18 6 million 2019 Operating income 5 5 million 2019 Net income 4 4 million 2019 OwnerPaul McCartney Ringo Starr Yoko Ono Olivia HarrisonSubsidiariesList of Apple Corps SubsidiariesWebsitewww wbr applecorps wbr comFrom 1970 to 2007 Apple s chief executive was former Beatles road manager Neil Aspinall although he did not officially bear that title until Allen Klein had left the company The current CEO is Jeff Jones In 2010 Apple Corps ranked number two on the Fast Company magazine s list of the world s most innovative companies in the music industry thanks to the release of The Beatles Rock Band video game and the remastering of the Beatles catalogue 2 Contents 1 History 1 1 Formation 1 2 Early administration 1 3 Beatles break up and beyond 2 Subsidiaries 2 1 Apple Electronics 2 2 Apple Films 2 3 Apple Publishing 2 4 Apple Records and Zapple Records 2 5 Apple Retail 2 6 Apple Studio 3 Legal battles 3 1 Apple Corps v Apple Computer 3 2 Apple versus EMI 3 3 Apple versus Nike EMI 4 Notes 5 References 6 External linksHistory EditThe Beatles accountants had informed the group that they had 2m that they could either invest in a business venture or else lose to the Inland Revenue because corporate business taxes were lower than their individual tax bills 3 According to Peter Brown personal assistant to Beatles manager Brian Epstein activities to find tax shelters for the income that the Beatles generated began as early as 1963 64 when Walter Strach 4 was put in charge of such operations 5 First steps into that direction were the foundation of Beatles Ltd and in early 1967 Beatles and Co 3 The Beatles publicist Derek Taylor remembered that Paul McCartney had the name for the new company when he visited Taylor s company flat in London We re starting a brand new form of business So what is the first thing that a child is taught when he begins to grow up A is for Apple McCartney then suggested the addition of Apple Core but they could not register the name so they used Corps having the same pronunciation 6 McCartney later revealed that he had been inspired by Rene Magritte s painting Le Jeu de Mourre featuring an apple with the words Au revoir painted on it 6 Harriet Vyner s 1999 book about the late lamented charismatic London art dealer Robert Fraser Groovy Bob contains this anecdote by McCartney about the first time he laid eyes on the painting that would inspire the company logo in 1967 7 In my garden at Cavendish Avenue which was a 100 year old house I d bought Robert was a frequent visitor One day he got hold of a Magritte he thought I d love Being Robert he would just get it and bring it I was out in the garden with some friends I think I was filming Mary Hopkin with a film crew just getting her to sing live in the garden with bees and flies buzzing around high summer We were in the long grass very beautiful very country like We were out in the garden and Robert didn t want to interrupt so when we went back in the big door from the garden to the living room there on the table he d just propped up this little Magritte It was of a green apple That became the basis of the Apple logo Across the painting Magritte had written in that beautiful handwriting of his Au revoir And Robert had split I thought that was the coolest thing anyone s ever done with me Formation Edit On the founding of Apple John Lennon commented Our accountant came up and said We got this amount of money Do you want to give it to the government or do something with it So we decided to play businessmen for a bit because we ve got to run our own affairs now So we ve got this thing called Apple which is going to be records films and electronics which all tie up 8 Stefan Granados wrote in Those Were the Days An Unofficial History of the Beatles Apple Organization 1967 2001 on the various processes that led to the formation of Apple Corps The first step towards creating this new business structure was to form a new partnership called Beatles and Co in April 1967 To all intents and purposes Beatles and Co was an updated version on the Beatles original partnership Beatles Ltd Under the new arrangement however each Beatle would own 5 of Beatles and Co and a new corporation owned collectively by all four Beatles which would soon be known as Apple would be given control of the remaining 80 of Beatles and Co With the exception of individual songwriting royalties which would still be paid directly to the writer or writers of a particular song all of the money earned by the Beatles as a group would go directly to Beatles and Co and would thus be taxed at a far lower corporate tax rate 9 10 Now that a new business structure was found with a lower tax rate Epstein mused what to do with it to justify it to the authorities and originally thought of it mostly as a merchandising company according to Lennon s first wife Cynthia The idea Brian came up with was a company called Apple His idea was to plough their money into a chain of shops not unlike Woolworth s in concept Apple boutiques Apple posters Apple records Brian needed an outlet for his boundless energy 11 Personal assistant to Epstein Alistair Taylor remembered 12 We set up an Executive Board of Apple before Brian died including Brian the accountant a solicitor Neil Aspinall myself and then sat down to work out ways of spending the money One big idea was to set up a chain of shops designed only to sell cards birthday cards Christmas cards anniversary cards When the boys heard about that they all condemned the scheme as the most boring yet Sure that they could come up with much better brainwaves they began to get involved themselves 13 In the middle of setting up the new company manager Epstein died unexpectedly in what seemed an accidental sleeping pills overdose on 27 August 1967 which pressed the Beatles to accelerate their plans to gain control of their own financial affairs In addition to providing an umbrella to cover the Beatles own financial and business affairs Apple was intended to provide a means of financial support to anyone in the wider world struggling to get worthwhile artistic projects off the ground According to Granados this idea probably originated with Paul McCartney as the Beatle most engaged in London s local avant garde scene McCartney was among the best known exponents of swinging London 14 Ringo Starr was quoted as saying of the venture 15 We tried to form Apple with Brian s brother Clive Epstein but he wouldn t have it He didn t believe in us I suppose He didn t think we could do it He thought we were four wild men and we were going to spend all his money and make him broke But that was the original idea of Apple to form it with NEMS We thought now Brian s gone let s really amalgamate and get this thing going let s make records and get people on our label and things like that So we formed Apple and they formed NEMS which is exactly the same thing as we are doing It was a family tie and we thought it would be a good idea to keep it in McCartney at first had obviously intended to use Epstein s music publishing company NEMS Enterprises for these plans but after Epstein s death it was learned that Australian Robert Stigwood was trying to get hold of NEMS 16 All four Beatles were not in favour of such an outcome as McCartney had previously told Epstein in 1967 17 We said In fact if you do if you somehow manage to pull this off we can promise you one thing We will record God Save the Queen for every single record we make from now on and we ll sing it out of tune That s a promise So if this guy buys us that s what he s buying They hurried to set up Apple instead and seeing that the Beatles would not be part of the NEMS package Stigwood went to form his own company RSO Records The Apple logo was designed by Gene Mahon with illustrator Alan Aldridge transcribing the copyright notice to appear on record releases In January 1968 Beatles Ltd officially changed its name to Apple Corps Ltd and registered the Apple trademark in forty seven countries 18 In February the company also registered Apple Electronics Apple Films Ltd Apple Management Apple Music Publishing Apple Overseas Apple Publicity Apple Records Apple Retail and Apple Tailoring Civil and Theatrical with the intent on focusing on five divisions records electronics film publishing and retailing Lennon and McCartney introduced their new business concept on a press conference held on 14 May 1968 in New York City with McCartney saying it would be A beautiful place where you can buy beautiful things a controlled weirdness a kind of Western communism 19 20 Lennon said It s a company we re setting up involving records films and electronics and as a sideline manufacturing or whatever We want to set up a system where people who just want to make a film about anything don t have to go on their knees in somebody s office probably yours 21 McCartney also said It s just trying to mix business with enjoyment We re in the happy position of not needing any more money So for the first time the bosses aren t in it for profit We ve already bought all our dreams We want to share that possibility with others 21 Early administration Edit For the first few months of Apple s existence it did not even have an office Most of the company s business was conducted from the NEMS building It was not until the autumn of 1967 that Apple finally opened a London office Since the Beatles already owned a four story building at 94 Baker Street that had been purchased as an investment property by their accountants they decided that Baker Street was as good a location as any for Apple In September they set up an office for Apple Publishing in the Baker Street building With Epstein s death there was nobody in the Beatles inner circle with business acumen who could manage the company and as with their band affairs the Beatles decided that they would manage it themselves Alistair Taylor in the one man band advertisement In December 1967 shortly after Epstein s death Lennon asked Alistair Taylor to work as General Manager for Apple It was during this period that Taylor appeared in the famous advertisement to promote Apple asking for new artists Designed by McCartney it showed him disguised as a one man band claiming This man has talent The publication in the New Musical Express and Rolling Stone brought an avalanche of applicants The mail room telephone switchboard and conference rooms became jammed at all hours with artists begging the Beatles to give them money George Harrison would later lament that We had every freak in the world coming in there Many of these supplicants received the investments they sought and were never heard from again Even though Apple was declared the most successful new record company of the year for 1968 before long the band members ignorance of finance and administration combined with their naive utopian mission of funding struggling unknown artists left Apple Corps with no solid business plan The Beatles naivete and inability to keep track of their own accounts was also eagerly exploited by the employees of Apple who purchased drugs and alcoholic beverages company lunches at expensive London restaurants and international calls made regularly on office telephones all of which would be treated as business expenses Writers Alan Clayson and Spencer Leigh described the owners hopelessness in managing their own creation Out of his depth a Beatle might commandeer a room at Savile Row stick to conventional office hours and play company director until the novelty wore off Initially he d look away from the disgusting realities of the half eaten steak sandwich in a litter bin the employee rolling a spliff of best Afghan hash the typist who span out a single letter in the house style with no exclamation marks all morning before popping out and not returning until the next day A great light dawned We had like a thousand people that weren t needed snarled Ringo but they all enjoyed it They were all getting paid for sitting around We had a guy there just to read the tarot cards the I Ching It was craziness 22 Aspinall finally agreed to direct the company on a temporary basis simply so that someone would finally be in charge When in 1969 the Beatles engaged Klein as their manager he also inherited the chairmanship of Apple Corps which led to an immediate streamlining of company affairs Overnight glib lack of concern deferred to pointed questions wrote Clayson amp Leigh Which typist rings Canberra every afternoon Why has so and so given himself a raise of 60 pounds a week Why is he seen only on payday Suddenly lunch meant beans on toast in the office kitchen instead of Beluga caviar from Fortnum amp Mason 23 Beatles break up and beyond Edit The first two years of the company s existence also coincided with a marked worsening of the Beatles relationships with each other ultimately leading to the break up of the band in April 1970 Apple quickly slid into financial chaos which was resolved only after many years of litigation When the Beatles partnership was dissolved in 1975 dissolution of Apple Corps was also considered but it was decided to keep it operating while effectively retiring or mothballing all its divisions The company is currently headquartered at 27 Ovington Square in London s prestigious Knightsbridge district Ownership and control of the company remains with McCartney Starr and the estates of Lennon and Harrison Apple Corps has had a long history of trademark disputes with Apple Computer now Apple Inc The dispute was finally resolved in 2007 with Apple Corps transferring ownership of the Apple name and all associated trademarks to Apple Inc and Apple Inc exclusively licensing these back to the Beatles company In April 2007 Apple also settled a long running dispute with EMI and announced the retirement of chief executive Aspinall 24 25 Aspinall was replaced by Jeff Jones 26 Subsidiaries EditApple Corps operated in various fields mostly related to the music business and other media through a number of subsidiaries Apple Electronics Edit Apple Electronics was the electronics division of Apple Corps founded as Fiftyshapes Ltd at 34 Boston Place Westminster London It was headed by Beatles associate Yanni Alexis Mardas whom Lennon had nicknamed Magic Alex 27 Intending to revolutionise the consumer electronics market largely through products based on Mardas unique and as it turned out commercially impractical designs the electronics division did not make any breakthroughs After the dismissal of Mardas in 1969 during Klein s house cleaning of Apple Corps Apple Electronics fell victim to the same forces that troubled the company as a whole including the impending Beatles break up It was later estimated that Mardas ideas and projects had cost the Beatles at least 300 000 worth approximately three million British pounds in 2007 28 29 Apple Films Edit The Apple Films logo from the DVD release of The Concert for Bangladesh Apple Films is the film making division of Apple Corps Its first production was The Beatles 1967 TV movie Magical Mystery Tour The Beatles films Yellow Submarine and Let it Be were also produced under Apple Films Other notable releases included Raga a 1971 documentary on Ravi Shankar The Concert for Bangladesh 1972 and Little Malcolm 1974 The latter produced by George Harrison included the song Lonely Man by Dark Horse Records band Splinter Apple Films was also responsible for producing Apple Corps televised promotions The following is a list of releases from Apple Films usually in the role of production company 30 Magical Mystery Tour 1967 Starring the Beatles produced and directed by the Beatles filmed September October 1967 54 mins World premiere BBC1 TV 26 December 1967 Yellow Submarine 1968 Animated film featuring the Beatles produced by Al Brodax directed by George Dunning animation designed by Heinz Edelmann written by Lee Minoff Al Brodax Jack Mendelsohn and Erich Segal 85 mins Distributed by United Artists World UK premiere London 17 July 1968 US premiere New York 13 November 1968 Did Britain Murder Hanratty 1969 A 40 minute documentary film commissioned by John Lennon and produced by Apple Films Limited The only public screening of the complete film was in the crypt of St Martin in the Fields Church London on 17 February 1970 31 32 Let It Be 1970 Documentary featuring the Beatles produced by Neil Aspinall directed by Michael Lindsay Hogg filmed January February 1969 88 mins Distributed by United Artists World US premiere New York 13 May 1970 UK premiere London 20 May 1970 Raga 1971 Documentary featuring Ravi Shankar Yehudi Menuhin George Harrison and Ustad Alauddin Khan produced by Howard Worth and Nancy Bacal directed by Howard Worth 96 mins Distributed by Apple Films World US premiere New York 23 November 1971 The Concert for Bangladesh 1972 Concert documentary featuring George Harrison Ravi Shankar Ringo Starr Bob Dylan Ali Akbar Khan Billy Preston Eric Clapton and Leon Russell produced by George Harrison and Allen Klein directed by Saul Swimmer filmed July August 1971 103 mins Distributed by 20th Century Fox World US premiere New York 23 March 1972 UK premiere London 27 July 1972 Born to Boogie 1972 Documentary featuring Marc Bolan T Rex Elton John and Ringo Starr produced and directed by Ringo Starr filmed March April 1972 Distributed by Apple Films World UK premiere London 18 December 1972 Son of Dracula 1974 Starring Harry Nilsson Ringo Starr Suzanna Leigh Freddie Jones and Dennis Price produced by Ringo Starr Jerry Gross and Tim Van Rellim directed by Freddie Francis screenplay by Jennifer Jayne filmed August October 1972 90 mins Distributed by Cinemation Industries World US premiere Atlanta GA 19 April 1974 Little Malcolm 1974 Starring John Hurt John McEnery Raymond Platt Rosalind Ayres and David Warner produced by George Harrison and Gavrick Losey directed by Stuart Cooper screenplay by David Halliwell and Derek Woodward 109 mins Distributed by Apple Films World European premiere Berlin July 1974 Apple Publishing Edit Apple s music publishing arm predated the record company In September 1967 the first artistes to be signed by Apple Publishing were two songwriters from Liverpool Paul Tennant and David Rhodes were offered a contract after meeting McCartney in Hyde Park 33 They were advised to form a band by Epstein after he and Lennon heard their demos calling the group Focal Point 34 Epstein was to have managed the band but died before he could become involved Terry Doran MD of Apple Publishing became their manager and they were signed by Deram Records 35 Apple published the group s self penned songs from early 1968 36 Another early band on its publishing roster was the group Grapefruit 37 Apple Publishing Ltd was also used as a publishing stop gap by Harrison and Starr as they sought to shift control of their own songs away from Northern Songs in which their status was little more than paid writers Harrison later started Harrisongs and Starr created Startling Music Apple s greatest publishing successes were the Badfinger hits No Matter What Day After Day and Baby Blue all written by group member Pete Ham and Badfinger s Without You a song penned by Ham and Badfinger bandmate Tom Evans Without You became a worldwide No 1 chart hit for Harry Nilsson in 1972 and Mariah Carey in 1993 In 2005 however Apple lost the US publishing rights for the work of Ham and Evans Those rights were transferred to Bug Music now a branch of BMG Rights Management 38 Apple also undertook publishing duties at various times for other Apple artists including Yoko Ono Billy Preston and the Radha Krishna Temple Apple received a large number of demo tapes some songs were published some were issued on other labels and only Benny Gallagher amp Lyle were retained as in house writers before going on to co found McGuinness Flint Many of these demos have been collected on a series of CDs released by Cherry Red Records They are entitled 94 Baker Street 39 An Apple for the Day 40 Treacle Toffee World 41 Lovers from the Sky Pop Psych from the Apple Era 1968 1971 and 94 Baker Street Revisited Poptastic Sounds from the Apple Era 1967 1968 Apple Books was largely inactive and had very few releases One notable release was the book that accompanied the initial pressing of the Let It Be album titled The Beatles Get Back containing photographs by Ethan Russell and text by Rolling Stone writers Jonathan Cott and David Dalton Although the book was credited to Apple Publishing all of the work on the project was actually done by freelancers 42 43 44 45 46 Apple Records and Zapple Records Edit Main article Apple Records From 1968 onwards new releases by the Beatles were issued by Apple Records although the copyright remained with EMI and Parlophone Capitol catalogue numbers continued to be used Apple releases of recordings by artists other than the Beatles however used a new set of numbers and the copyrights were held mostly by Apple Corps Ltd More than a vanity label Apple Records developed an eclectic roster of their own releasing records by artists as diverse as Indian sitar guru Ravi Shankar Welsh easy listening singer Mary Hopkin the power pop band Badfinger classical music composer John Tavener soul singer Billy Preston folk singer James Taylor R amp B singer Doris Troy New York underground rock band Elephant s Memory original bad girl of rock and roll Ronnie Spector rock singer Jackie Lomax the Modern Jazz Quartet and London s Radha Krishna Temple Since Apple s inception McCartney and Lennon had been very interested in launching a budget line label to issue what would essentially be known three decades later as audio books In October 1968 Apple hired Barry Miles who co owned the Indica bookshop with John Dunbar and Peter Asher to manage the proposed spoken word label The initial idea of Zapple Records was that it would release avant garde and spoken word records at a reduced price that would be comparable to that of a paperback novel While the idea looked good on paper the reality was that when the few records actually put out by Zapple finally made it into the shops they were priced like any other full priced music album 47 Zapple Records was started on 3 February 1969 but after Klein was brought in to run Apple Corps affairs it was closed down after just two releases Lennon and Ono s Unfinished Music No 2 Life with the Lions and Harrison s Electronic Sound 48 Apple Retail Edit Main article Apple Boutique The Apple Boutique was a retail store located at 94 Baker Street in London and was one of the first business ventures by Apple Corps Lennon s schoolfriend Pete Shotton was hired as manager and the Dutch design collective The Fool were brought in to design the store and much of the merchandise 49 The store opened to much fanfare on 7 December 1967 with Lennon and Harrison attending Starr was filming and McCartney was on holiday The boutique was never profitable largely due to shoplifting by customers and its own staff 50 After Shotton resigned John Lyndon took over but his management experience could not save the enterprise 51 The store s remaining stock was liquidated by giving it away after the individual Beatles had taken whatever they liked the night before its closure 50 The boutique closed its doors on 31 July 1968 51 Apple Studio Edit Apple Studio redirects here For the Apple Inc subsidiary see Apple Studios production company Apple Studios in 1971 Apple Studio was a recording studio located in the basement of the Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row The facility was renamed Apple Studios after its expansion in 1971 Originally designed by Alex Mardas of Apple Electronics the initial installation proved to be unworkable with almost no standard studio features such as a patch bay or a talkback system between the studio and the control room let alone Mardas promised innovations and had to be scrapped Nevertheless the Beatles recorded and filmed portions of their album Let It Be in the Apple Studio with equipment borrowed from EMI during takes they had to shut down the building s central heating also located in the basement because the lack of soundproofing allowed the heating system to be heard in the studio The redesign and rebuilding of the basement to accommodate proper recording facilities was overseen by former EMI engineer Geoff Emerick and took eighteen months at an estimated cost of 1 5 million Beatles technical engineer Claude Harper aided on the project as well 52 The studio reopened on 30 September 1971 and now included its own natural echo chamber a wide range of recording and mastering facilities and could turn out mono stereo and quadrophonic master tapes and discs In 1971 it would have cost 37 an hour equivalent to 600 in 2023 53 to record to 16 track 29 an hour equivalent to 400 in 2023 53 to mix to stereo and 12 equivalent to 200 in 2023 53 to cut a 12 master George Harrison attended the launch party along with Pete Ham of Badfinger and Klaus Voormann 54 The studio became a second home for Apple Records artists although they also used Abbey Road and other studios in London including Trident Studios AIR Studios Morgan Studios and Olympic Studios or elsewhere The only Beatle solo release to use Apple Studio for a significant portion of its production was Harrison s Living in the Material World album of 1973 yet most of the recording is thought to have taken place at his Friar Park studio 55 The first projects to be carried out there after the re opening were the recording of Lon amp Derrek Van Eaton s Brother album 52 and overdubbing and mixing on Badfinger s Straight Up 56 Other artists such as Harry Nilsson Nicky Hopkins Wishbone Ash Viv Stanshall Stealers Wheel Lou Reizner Clodagh Rodgers and Marc Bolan as shown in the movie Born To Boogie also worked there Apple Studio was closed down for good on 16 May 1975 Legal battles EditApple Corps v Apple Computer Edit Main article Apple Corps v Apple Computer In 1978 Apple Records filed suit against Apple Computer now Apple Inc for trademark infringement The suit was settled in 1981 with the payment of 80 000 260 748 95 in 2022 to Apple Corps As a condition of the settlement Apple Computer agreed to stay out of the music business A dispute subsequently arose in 1989 when Apple Corps sued alleging that Apple Computer s machines ability to play back MIDI music was a violation of the 1981 settlement agreement In 1991 another settlement of around 26 5 million was reached 57 58 In September 2003 Apple Computer was again sued by Apple Corps this time for introducing the iTunes Music Store and the iPod which Apple Corps asserted was a violation of Apple s agreement not to distribute music The trial opened on 29 March 2006 in the UK 59 and in a judgement issued on 8 May 2006 Apple Corps lost the case 58 60 On 5 February 2007 Apple Inc and Apple Corps announced a settlement of their trademark dispute under which Apple Inc took ownership of all of the trademarks related to Apple including all designs of the famed Granny Smith Apple Corps Ltd logos 61 and licensed certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps for their continued use The settlement ended the ongoing trademark lawsuit between the companies with each party bearing its own legal costs and Apple Inc continued using its name and logos on iTunes The settlement includes terms that are confidential 62 63 Apple Computer later relied on the Beatles first use in 1968 to establish ownership and priority of the trademark APPLE MUSIC prior to a 1985 use by a musician of APPLE JAZZ for musical concerts 64 The website for Harmonix s The Beatles Rock Band video game was the first evidence of the Apple Inc Apple Corps Ltd settlement Apple Corps is prominently referred to throughout and the Granny Smith Apple logo appears but the text beneath the logo now reads Apple Corps rather than the previous Apple The website s acknowledgements specifically state that Apple and the Apple logo are exclusively licensed to Apple Corps Ltd On 16 November 2010 Apple Inc launched the Beatles entire catalogue in the iTunes Store 65 Apple versus EMI Edit The Beatles alleged in a 1979 lawsuit that EMI and Capitol had underpaid the band by more than 10 5 million A settlement was reached in that case in 1989 which granted the band an increased royalty rate and required EMI and Capitol to follow more stringent auditing requirements 66 Apple on behalf of the surviving Beatles and relatives of the band s late members again sued EMI for unpaid royalties in a case beginning in 2005 66 67 The case was settled in April 2007 with a mutually acceptable conclusion which remained confidential 25 Apple versus Nike EMI Edit In July 1987 Apple Corps sued Nike Inc Wieden Kennedy Nike s advertisement agency EMI and Capitol Records for the use of the song Revolution in a 1987 Nike commercial Apple claimed that it was not informed of the use of the song and was not paid for continued use and therefore sued the four companies for 15 million 68 EMI countered stating that the case was groundless to their claim they had the active support and encouragement of Yoko Ono Lennon who owns 25 of Apple Corps through Lennon s estate and was quoted as saying The commercial is making John s music accessible to a new generation Apple s lawyer responded by stating that Apple cannot take action unless all four shares are in agreement meaning that Ono must have supported the idea to take legal action at the moment when the decision was made Harrison had the following to say about the unauthorised use of Beatles songs for advertisement as well as the importance of this particular case E very Beatles song ever recorded is going to be advertising women s underwear and sausages We ve got to put a stop to it in order to set a precedent Otherwise it s going to be a free for all It s one thing when you re dead but we re still around They don t have any respect for the fact that we wrote and recorded those songs and it was our lives On 9 November 1989 the lawsuit was settled out of court As with previous cases between Apple and EMI a condition of the settlement was that terms of the agreement would be kept secret It was suggested however by a spokesman of Ono that in the end of a very confusing myriad of issues there was a large exchange of money Nike had also ceased to use the song for advertisement in March 1988 69 Notes Edit Brown Peter Gaines Steven 1983 The Love You Make An Insider s Story of The Beatles London Macmillan Publishers p 246 ISBN 0 333 36134 2 Most Innovative Companies Mansueto Ventures LLC Archived from the original on 7 June 2011 Retrieved 2 June 2011 a b Cross 2005 p 152 23 February 1965 The Beatles begin filming Help in the Bahamas The Beatles Bible Brown amp Gaines 2002 p 117 a b Cross 2005 p 199 Groovy Bob The Life and Times of Robert Fraser by Harriet Vyner Faber 317 pp October 1999 ISBN 0 571 19627 6 Lennon amp McCartney Interview The Tonight Show Beatles Interviews 14 May 1968 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Granados 2002 p 6 Apple Corps General Statements Beatle Money Archived from the original on 7 July 2011 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Lennon 1978 p 146 Yesterday The Beatles Remembered with Martin Robers Pan Macmillan 1988 p 108 ISBN 0 283 99621 8 Taylor 1988 p 108 Granados Stefan Those Were the Days The Beatles Apple Organization Cherry Red Records Archived from the original on 29 August 2007 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Granados M Those Were the Days p 11 Cross 2005 p 191 Paul McCartney Expenses Beatle Money Archived from the original on 7 July 2011 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Granados M Those Were the Days p 24 Carlin 2009 p 171 Uncontrolled Weirdness New Internationalist October 1990 Retrieved 2 June 2011 a b John Lennon amp Paul McCartney Apple Press Conference Beatles Interviews 14 May 1968 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Clayson amp Leigh 2003 p 256 Clayson amp Leigh 2003 p 257 Kozinn Allan 12 April 2007 Magical Mystery Tour Ends for Apple Corps Executive The New York Times a b Evans Jonny 12 April 2007 EMI Apple Corps deal good news for iTunes MacWorld Archived from the original on 10 June 2011 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Beatles friend quits top job at Apple Corps NME 10 April 2007 Archived from the original on 5 June 2011 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Blaney 2005 p 23 Campbell Duncan 3 August 1979 Alex Mardas New Statesman Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1264 to 2007 Measuring Worth Archived from the original on 6 July 2008 Retrieved 8 August 2008 Harry Castleman amp Walter J Podrazik All Together Now The First Complete Beatles Discography 1961 1975 Ballantine Books New York NY 1976 pp 318 21 Miles Barry 2009 The Beatles Diary Volume 1 The Beatles Years Omnibus Press pp 655 656 ISBN 978 0 85712 000 7 Badman Keith 2009 The Beatles Diary Volume 2 After the Break Up 1970 2001 Omnibus Press p 158 ISBN 978 0 85712 001 4 Tennant amp Willis 2008 p 62 Tennant amp Willis 2008 p 125 Tennant amp Willis 2008 p 174 Tennant amp Willis 2008 p 102 Tennant amp Willis 2008 p 170 Matovina 2000 94 Baker Street The Pop Psych Sounds of the Apple Era 67 69 Rpm 20 October 2003 Retrieved 26 April 2011 An Apple a Day Rpm 10 April 2006 Retrieved 26 April 2011 Treacle Toffee World Further Adventures Into the Pop Psych Sounds from the Apple Era 1967 1969 Rpm 27 October 2008 Retrieved 26 April 2011 Granados S Those Were the Days p 44 Yesterday by Robert Freeman Many Years From Now by Miles In My Life by Pete Shotton The Complete EMI Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn The Beatles London by Mark Lewisohn and Peter Schreuder Granados S Those Were the Days p 76 Blaney 2005 p 15 Cross 2005 p 218 a b Cross 2005 p 239 a b Cross 2005 p 238 a b Apple US press release for Lon amp Derrek Van Eaton s Brother album September 1972 Retrieved 24 February 2012 a b c UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark Gregory 2017 The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain 1209 to Present New Series MeasuringWorth Retrieved 11 June 2022 Keith Badman The Beatles Diary Volume 2 After the Break Up 1970 2001 Omnibus Press London 2001 p 50 Simon Leng While My Guitar Gently Weeps The Music of George Harrison Hal Leonard Milwaukee WI 2006 p 126 Badman The Beatles Diary Volume 2 p 50 Borland John Fried Ina 23 September 2004 Apple vs Apple Perfect harmony CBS Interactive Retrieved 2 June 2011 a b Apple Corps v Apple Computer judgment in full The Times 8 May 2006 p 1 Archived from the original on 11 June 2011 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Apple giants do battle in court BBC 29 March 2006 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Apple Computer Triumphs In Beatle Case Billboard 8 May 2006 Archived from the original on 5 June 2011 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Malley Aidan Jade Kasper 12 April 2007 Apple Inc scores trademark coup with Beatles label logos Apple Insider Archived from the original on 12 June 2011 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Kerris Natalie Apple Inc and the Beatles Apple Corps Ltd Enter into New Agreement Press release Apple Inc Archived from the original on 1 May 2011 Retrieved 24 August 2013 Sweney Mark 5 February 2007 Apple trademark dispute resolved The Guardian Retrieved 2 June 2011 Charles Bertini v Apple Inc 2021 WL 1575580 UJSP TO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board 2021 Sabbagh Dan Arthur Charles 16 November 2010 The Beatles and Apple finally come together right now on iTunes The Guardian Archived from the original on 8 September 2019 Retrieved 4 March 2021 a b Beatles sue EMI in royalties row BBC 16 December 2005 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Beatles to sue EMI for millions in royalties The Times 31 August 2006 Archived from the original on 4 June 2011 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Nike amp The Beatles The Pop History Dig LLC 11 November 2010 Retrieved 2 June 2011 Nike Was Sued For 1987 Commercial That Used The Beatles Revolution Without Apple Records Permission Feel Numb 31 August 2010 Retrieved 2 June 2011 References EditBlaney John 2005 John Lennon Listen To This Book Paper Jukebox ISBN 978 0 9544528 1 0 Brown Peter Gaines Steven 2002 The Love You Make An Insider s Story of the Beatles NAL Trade Reprint edition ISBN 978 0 451 20735 7 Clayson Alan Leigh Spencer 2003 The Walrus Was Ringo 101 Beatles Myths Debunked Chrome Dreams ISBN 978 1 84240 205 4 Carlin Peter Ames 2009 Paul McCartney A Life JR Books Ltd ISBN 978 1 906779 64 1 Cross Craig 2005 Beatles discography Com Day by Day Song by Song Record by Record iUniverse ISBN 978 0 595 31487 4 DiLello Richard 1973 The Longest Cocktail Party Charisma Books ISBN 978 0 85947 006 3 Frontani Michael R 2007 The Beatles Image and the Media University Press of Mississippi ISBN 978 1 57806 966 8 Granados Stefan 2002 Those Were the Days An Unofficial History Of The Beatles Apple Organization An Unofficial History of the Beatles Apple Organization 1967 2001 Cherry Red Books ISBN 978 1 901447 12 5 Linzmayer Owen 2004 Apple Confidential 2 0 The Definitive History of the World s Most Colorful Company The Real Story of Apple Computer Inc No Starch Press ISBN 978 1 59327 010 0 Lennon Cynthia 1978 A Twist of Lennon Avon Books ISBN 978 0 352 30196 3 Matovina Dan 2000 Without You The Tragic Story of Badfinger Frances Glover Books ISBN 978 0 9657122 2 4 McCabe Peter Schonfeld Robert D 1973 Apple to the Core Unmaking of the Beatles Sphere Books ISBN 978 0 7221 5899 9 Onkvisit Sak Shaw John 2008 International Marketing Analysis and Strategy Strategy and Theory Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 77261 7 Taylor Alistair 1988 Yesterday Beatles Remembered Sidgwick amp Jackson ISBN 978 0 283 99621 4 Tennant Paul Willis John 2008 All You Need Is Luck How I Got a Record Deal by Meeting Paul McCartney Happy About ISBN 978 1 60005 111 1 External links EditThe complete Apple Records Beatles Ltd at Companies House Filing History tab includes the original foundation and renaming documents Overview of Beatles companies Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Apple Corps amp oldid 1151630172, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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