I think of the Aerosmith story in two parts, everything that happened before the release of their hit album Permanent Vacation and everything after.

It’s the everything after part that’s shaky, including some mediocre music and a lead singer playing judge on a hack talent show. But in the days before “Dude Looks Like A Lady” reignited the band’s popularity in 1987, Aerosmith released a series of albums between 1973 and 1987 that contain some of the finest music in rock n’ roll history.

And now, Apple has signed a mega deal with Columbia Records to add never before released digital versions of these classic Aerosmith albums to iTunes, which are available right now.

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It was always a matter of when, not if, for Apple to start negotiating with record companies to loosen the reins and allow consumers unlimited use of their iTunes music.

According to Bloomberg, Apple are in talks with a number of labels, including Universal Music, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, to provide users more flexible access to music they’ve purchased across multiple devices. An agreement could be announced by midyear.

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Apple has – finally! – reached an agreement to sell Beatles albums on iTunes, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Apple on Monday posted a message on the iTunes homepage that it would make “an exciting announcement” Tuesday morning.

Well, Tuesday morning is here and the Cupertino, Calif. boys did not disappoint; a deal for legal downloading of the Fab Four’s catalog of 200-plus songs recorded from 1962-1970 is finally realized.

Most of the 13 original studio albums in the deal run $12.99, and individual tracks are available for $1.29 each.

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Apple on Monday posted a message on the iTunes homepage that it would make “an exciting announcement” Tuesday morning.

Well, Tuesday morning isn’t here yet, but already speculation is that Apple will announce that it would soon start carrying the Beatles’ music catalog.

An agreement for legal downloading of the group’s catalog of music from 1962-1970 is about to be announced by Steve Jobs’ Apple Inc., the Beatles’ Apple Corps and EMI/Capitol Records, the Wall Street Journal reports.

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Good news for commitment-weary iTunes shoppers: Apple has sent word to the music labels that it will start to triple the length of music previews on iTunes from 30 seconds to 90 seconds.

MacRumours has reported if a song’s run time is under 2 minutes and 30 second, the preview time will stay at 30 seconds.

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Today Steve Jobs once again made one of his huge, and very dramatic announcements regarding the latest product from Apple. He unveiled a new line of iPods, which he called the “strongest lineup of iPods we’ve ever had.” Damn Steve, no pressure there. To help him kick off the new batch of goodies he tapped Coldplay front man Chris Martin and Lady Gaga.

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Apple is planning a music-themed event in San Francisco next Wednesday, which means updated iPods or possibly a new cloud-based version of iTunes could be in the works.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company emailed reporters a special invitation featuring an acoustic guitar with the Apple logo for the Sept. 1. event; Apple usually reserves time in September to unveil updates to its iPod and iTunes products.

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Hop over to Lala this morning to legally stream/ download your favorite tunes or albums (though, if they’re already your favorites, you probably already own them, and are just going there to secretly listen to the new MGMT you just can’t force yourself to buy) and you’ll run straight into a very interesting message instead of the usual Lala homepage, one that carries with it a possibly very deep significance for the future of online access to music:

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Apple‘s iTunes has sold it’s 10 billionth song when consumer, 71-year-old Louie Sulcer purchased the Johnny Cash song, “Guess Things Happen That Way,” today. As the 10 billionth consumer, Sulcer has also received a $10,000 gift card from iTunes – an enticing factor which swayed consumers to buy a few more songs than usual this past week.

However, what’s more interesting is the fact that the top most downloaded songs of all time greatly contrast the genre and era of the winner’s choice. Although iTunes was only launched in 2003, the songs that made the top 20 don’t necessarily represent the wide spectrum of music fiends. Take a look below to see what we’re talking about.

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