Beatles hits become mobile phone ringtones

Hits from The Beatles have finally joined the chorus of ringtones available for mobile phones. Catchy 30-second snippets from more than two dozen of the famed 1960s British rock band's top tunes are available exclusively at Apple's online iTunes shop, a message said Wednesday on official website thebeatles.com. "Fans around the world can, for the first time, purchase ringtones for the Beatles' 27 UK and US #1 hits, exclusively on iTunes," the message announced. "You can even assign your favourite tracks to your favourite people," it continued. The ringtones were priced at $1.29 each and could be downloaded for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices. The list of Beatles songs included "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Let It Be." The Beatles arrived on iTunes in November of 2010 after what late Apple's Steve Jobs described at the time as "a long and winding road". A decade had been spent getting the music of "Fab Four" -- Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr -- released in digital form for Apple's wildly popular mobile devices. The vast catalog of Beatles hits had been held back for years from Internet download sites amid legal squabbles, although their songs have long circulated as unlicensed downloads available from unlicensed peer-to-peer networks.