Today EMI announced it has retained the entire Paul McCartney solo catalog and is preparing for a digital launch as well as physical reissues. (Read press release.) McCartney's upcoming Hear Music album, Memory Almost Full out June 4th, will be his first to be available in the digital format. Capitol Records will have the titles in the U.S.

The news is more symbolic than anything else and is the closest thing to getting the Beatles catalog online. What people really want is the Beatles catalog on iTunes, not the Paul McCartney catalog. This announcement feels like a stepping stone to that ultimate goal. Frankly, it will be nice when the Beatles catalog is finally available, just so it doesn't have to be a topic any more. Let's get it over with so we can move on to the oddities of the Radiohead and Husker Du digital catalogs for a change.

Boosey & Hawkes is looking for a Royalty Tracker.