The end of the long and winding road is finally in sight for Beatles fans wanting to buy the band’s music online after a reported multimillion-pound settlement between the group and its record label.

The undisclosed settlement, which was agreed at the end of last month, means that the Beatles can now negotiate with EMI to sell the group’s back-catalogue through online services such as iTunes.

The dispute was seen as the final obstacle to online distribution after band members settled another row with Apple Computer, the owner of iTunes, earlier this year.

Online sales would generate millions of pounds for the surviving members, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and the families of the late John Lennon and George Harrison. Music industry experts predict that Beatles tracks would immediately climb to the top of the download charts and remain a dominant force for years.

The band has been locked in a legal battle with its record label over royalties for almost 30 years. The latest case began in December when the Beatles demanded that EMI and its affiliate label, Capitol Records, pay $25 million (£13.2 million) in damages for fraud and breach of contract.

Sir Paul, Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, the estate of George Harrison and Apple Records, the band’s recording label, claimed that EMI and Capitol under-reported royalties to every album recorded by the Beatles between 1963 and 1976, including Help!, Rubber Soul, Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road. The claim also named solo projects such as John Lennon’s Imagine.

It echoed a similar lawsuit in 1979 when the Beatles accused Capitol and EMI of under-paying them to the tune of $20 million. The case was settled a decade later when the Beatles and Apple were granted higher royalty rates.

EMI has not confirmed the settlement but raised the possibility that there would be a breakthrough at a press conference in London on April 2. Eric Nicoli, chief executive, said: “We’re working on it and we hope it’s soon.”

It is thought that the surviving Beatles and relatives of Lennon and Harrison will receive a multimillion-pound sum as part of the settlement.

The band’s refusal to distribute its music digitally was partly motivated by a dispute with Apple Computer, the market leader in online music sales, over the right to use an apple symbol. That dispute, which began in 1980, was finally resolved in February. Neil Aspinall, the outgoing chief executive of Apple Corps, said at the time that the Beatles looked forward to co-operating with Apple Computer. “The years ahead are going to be very exciting times for us,” he said. He quit the company this week after 40 years.

Mr Aspinall, who was at the same school as Sir Paul and Harrison and once worked as a roadie for the band, added that he had begun preparing the Beatles catalogue for online release.

Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Computer, said: “We love the Beatles and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks. It feels great to resolve this in a positive manner, and in a way that should remove the potential of further disagreements in the future.”

Apple Computer, which also makes iPod music players, now owns all the trademarks for “Apple” but licenses some back to Apple Corps. The Beatles’ record label lost a High Court ruling last year after a judge decided that iPod and iTunes had nothing to do with the creation of the music itself.

The size of the settlement paid by Apple Computer to Apple Corps was undisclosed, but one investment banker estimated that the naming rights would be worth up to $100 million.

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