BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Speculation is running rampant EMI Group and Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs are announcing Monday that "an exciting new digital offering" is Beatles downloads are going to be offered on iTunes.

    Music lovers have been wondering if Beatles music would be made available on iTunes since February when Apple Corps, which controls the Beatles catalog, settled litigation over the Apple name with Jobs.

    But when asked if Monday's media briefing in London was related to the launch of Beatles music on iTunes, an e-mail from Apple spokeswoman Elizabeth Freund expressed surprise.

    "Your e-mail was the first I heard of any announcement," she claimed.

    But if not, why else would Jobs be participating in the briefing? Another possibility is EMI will discuss a new initiative regarding the easing of usage restrictions on music downloads.

    EMI engaged in exploratory talks earlier this year with online music vendors about the possibility of removing such restrictions from its music downloads, although the discussions stalled in early February without an agreement.

    Around the same time, Jobs posted a statement on Apple's website calling on record labels to free digital downloads of usage restrictions, which dictate how many times a music file can be copied and which portable players it can be played on.

    The statement came at a time when Apple was facing pressure from European regulators, who have questioned the legality of usage restrictions on iTunes downloads because they can't be directly transferred to portable devices that compete with the company's market-leading iPod music player.

    EMI is the most financially troubled of the major labels and needs a new marketing scheme. It has scaled back its sales forecasts twice so far this year and undergone a painful restructuring that included the January departures of EMI Music Chairman and Chief Executive Alain Levy and Vice Chairman David Munns.

    (Agencies)