The Beatles' Manager Signed Away 90% of Their Own Merchandise. The Mistake Cost ....

The Beatles’ business empire is about to get a new chapter.

Universal Music Group and Apple Corps have unveiled a new exclusive, long-term global partnership that will expand how The Beatles’ brand is managed and presented to fans around the world. The agreement will bring together Apple Corps’ stewardship of the Beatles’ legacy with UMG’s global expertise in music, merchandising, retail and fan experiences.

It’s a far cry from the way the Beatles’ licensing business began.

In early 1964, as Beatlemania landed in America, Beatles manager Brian Epstein was facing a problem almost no music manager had ever encountered before. U.S. companies wanted to put the Beatles’ name and image on everything they could sell.

The Beatles answer questions for newsmen and journalists in New York after their arrival for their first tour of America. Left to right: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon. 7th February 1964.

There were offers for electric and acoustic guitars, dolls, wigs, T-shirts, clocks, games, jewelry and countless other products. Overwhelmed, Epstein told his lawyer David Jacobs to find someone who could take over the Beatles’ increasingly lucrative merchandising business.

Jacobs turned to an entrepreneur named Nicky Byrne. Byrne agreed to handle the business through two companies: Stramsact in Britain and Seltaeb — “Beatles” spelled backward — in the United States.

In return, Byrne proposed that his company would receive 90 percent of the money, leaving just 10 percent for NEMS and the Beatles.

Source: guitarplayer.com/Christopher Scapelliti

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