Beatles Bits: Weekly news roundup

Sony/ATV, which holds rights to most of the the Lennon-McCartney song catalog has signed a licensing deals that will make Beatles lyrics available for plastering on various products such as coffee mugs and greeting cards.
"We envision a broad licensed products campaign that encompasses everything from apparel, accessories and wall art to home electronics, gifts, stationery, and more," commented Lisa Streff, Epic Rights' executive vp of global licensing. "From All You Need is Love to Hey Jude, the opportunities to develop high quality merchandise that incorporates the words and sentiments of Paul McCartney and John Lennon's lyrics are limitless."
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Work is underway to digitize 76 reel-to-reel recordings of lectures Indian musician (and George Harrison collaborator) Ravi Shankar gave while teaching at New York's City College between 1967 and 1972.

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Via WogBlog: Newly discovered documents shine light, and raise new questions, about the Beatles' recording sessions in Hamburg with Tony Sheridan.

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Mary McCartney talks about her mom's pioneering range of vegetarian meals and her own work to help launch the Meat-Free Monday campaign.
"She didn't even realise what a food revolutionary she was," says Mary proudly. "Vegetarian food ranges are quite mainstream now, but when she started, it was completely unheard of to have a range like that. I think we're all quite proud of it, and we want to work to ensure it carries on her ethics."
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An economic study predicts the Beatles "brand" will generate $600 million this year alone.
The study found that tribute bands and live performances of Beatles music generate $225 million ($US) annually, or approximately 40% of the total. Book authors, Beatles-themed radio shows, museums and tours of famous Beatles locations generate an estimated $140 million ($US) annually.

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