Apple Corps facts for kids
Apple Corps' logo, featuring a Granny Smith apple
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| Private | |
| Industry |
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| Founded | 2 April 1968 |
| Founder | The Beatles |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Jeff Jones (CEO) |
| Revenue | £18.6 million (2019) |
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Operating income
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£5.5 million (2019) |
| £4.4 million (2019) | |
| Owner |
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| Subsidiaries | List of Apple Corps Subsidiaries |
Apple Corps Limited is a company started by the famous band The Beatles in London in January 1968. They created it to replace their old company and to bring many different businesses together under one name. The name "Apple Corps" is a clever play on words because it sounds like "apple core."
The most well-known part of Apple Corps is Apple Records, which is their music label. But they also had other parts, like Apple Electronics, Apple Films, Apple Publishing, and Apple Retail. One of their most famous retail projects was the Apple Boutique, a clothing store in central London that didn't last very long. The company's main offices have been in different places in London over the years, including 3 Savile Row, which was also home to the Apple recording studio.
From 1970 to 2007, Neil Aspinall, who used to be the Beatles' road manager, was in charge of Apple Corps. The current CEO is Jeff Jones. In 2010, Apple Corps was named one of the most creative music companies in the world. This was thanks to the release of The Beatles: Rock Band video game and new versions of the Beatles' classic songs.
Contents
How Apple Corps Started
The Beatles' money experts told them they had a lot of money that they could either invest in a business or lose a big part of it in taxes. So, they decided to start a company. This way, they could manage their own money and pay less in taxes.
Paul McCartney came up with the name "Apple." He said he was inspired by a painting by René Magritte that showed a green apple. This painting later became the basis for the Apple Corps logo.
Forming the Company
John Lennon explained that they wanted to create a company that would include records, films, and electronics. He said they wanted to make it easier for people to create artistic projects without having to beg for money. McCartney added that they were in a good position because they didn't need more money for themselves. They wanted to share opportunities with others.
The first step was to create a new business structure in April 1967. This new setup meant that most of the money the Beatles earned as a group would go to the company. This helped them pay a lower tax rate.
The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, first thought of Apple as a company for selling things like clothes and posters, similar to a department store. But the Beatles wanted to do more exciting things. Sadly, Epstein died suddenly in August 1967. This made the Beatles speed up their plans to take control of their own money and businesses. They also wanted Apple to help new artists who were struggling to get their projects off the ground.
At first, Apple Corps didn't even have its own office. Most of its business was done from Epstein's old company building. In late 1967, Apple finally opened an office at 94 Baker Street in London, a building the Beatles already owned.
Early Challenges
After Epstein's death, the Beatles decided to manage the company themselves. In December 1967, Lennon asked Alistair Taylor to be the General Manager. Taylor appeared in a famous advertisement designed by McCartney, asking for new artists to join Apple. This led to many people contacting Apple, hoping to get help from the Beatles.
Even though Apple was a successful new record company in 1968, the Beatles didn't have much experience with business or managing money. Their goal of helping unknown artists meant that many people who didn't really need help received money and were never heard from again. Some employees also took advantage of the situation, spending company money on expensive lunches and long phone calls.
Ringo Starr later said, "We had, like, a thousand people that weren't needed... They were all getting paid for sitting around."
Eventually, Neil Aspinall agreed to manage the company temporarily. In 1969, the Beatles hired Allen Klein as their manager. He quickly made big changes to Apple Corps, making sure money was spent wisely and getting rid of unnecessary expenses.
After the Beatles' Break-up
The first two years of Apple Corps also saw the Beatles' relationships with each other get worse, leading to the band breaking up in April 1970. Apple faced big money problems, which took many years to fix. Even after the Beatles' partnership ended in 1975, they decided to keep Apple Corps going, but most of its different parts stopped operating.
Today, Apple Corps is located in London. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison still own and control the company.
Apple Corps has had a long history of legal disagreements over its name with Apple Inc. (the computer company). They finally settled their dispute in 2007. Apple Inc. now owns the "Apple" name and all related trademarks, and they let Apple Corps use them for their music business. In 2007, Apple Corps also settled a long-running disagreement with EMI, their record distributor.
Different Parts of Apple Corps
Apple Corps worked in many areas, mostly related to music and other media, through several smaller companies called subsidiaries.
Apple Electronics
Apple Electronics was the part of Apple Corps that focused on electronics. It was led by a Beatles' friend named Yanni Alexis Mardas, who Lennon called "Magic Alex." He wanted to create new electronic products, but his ideas didn't work out well in real life. After he left the company, Apple Electronics faced problems and eventually stopped making products. It's thought that his projects cost the Beatles a lot of money.
Apple Films
Apple Films is the part of Apple Corps that made movies. Their first film was the Beatles' 1967 TV movie Magical Mystery Tour. They also produced the Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine and the documentary Let it Be.
Other movies they produced include:
- Raga (1971), a documentary about the musician Ravi Shankar.
- The Concert for Bangladesh (1972), a concert documentary.
- Little Malcolm (1974), a film produced by George Harrison.
Apple Films also made TV commercials and promotional videos for Apple Corps.
Apple Publishing
Apple's music publishing part started even before the record company. It helped songwriters get their songs published. George Harrison and Ringo Starr used Apple Publishing to manage their own songs.
Apple Publishing had great success with songs by the band Badfinger, like "No Matter What" and "Without You." "Without You" became a huge worldwide hit for Harry Nilsson in 1972 and Mariah Carey in 1993.
Apple also published songs for other artists on their record label, like Yoko Ono and Billy Preston. Many demo tapes were sent to Apple, and some of these songs were published or released by other labels.
Apple Records and Zapple Records
From 1968 onwards, new music by the Beatles was released on their own label, Apple Records. Apple Records also signed many other different artists, including Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar, pop singer Mary Hopkin, the band Badfinger, and soul singer Billy Preston.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon were also interested in creating a label for spoken-word recordings, like audio books. This became Zapple Records. The idea was to release experimental and spoken-word records at a lower price. However, Zapple Records only released two albums before it was closed down: Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions by Lennon and Ono, and Electronic Sound by Harrison.
Apple Retail
The Apple Boutique was a clothing store located at 94 Baker Street in London. It was one of the first businesses started by Apple Corps. The store opened on December 7, 1967, with Lennon and Harrison attending.
However, the boutique never made money, mostly because of shoplifting by both customers and staff. The store's remaining clothes and items were given away for free before it closed its doors on July 31, 1968.
Apple Studio
Apple Studio was a recording studio located in the basement of the Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row. It was bought in 1968 and later expanded in 1971, becoming Apple Studios.
The first design for the studio didn't work well, so it had to be completely rebuilt. Even so, the Beatles recorded and filmed parts of their Let It Be album there. During recording, they even had to turn off the building's heating system because the sound could be heard in the studio!
The studio was redesigned and rebuilt, opening again in 1971. It became a second home for artists on Apple Records. Many artists recorded there, including Lon & Derrek Van Eaton, Badfinger, Harry Nilsson, and Marc Bolan. Apple Studio closed down on May 16, 1975.
Legal Battles
Apple Corps has been involved in several important legal cases.
Apple Corps vs. Apple Computer
In 1978, Apple Records sued Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) because they felt the computer company was using their name unfairly. They settled in 1981, and Apple Computer agreed to stay out of the music business.
However, new disagreements came up when Apple Computer's machines could play music (MIDI) and later when they launched the iTunes Music Store and the iPod. Apple Corps argued these were against their agreement. After several lawsuits, they finally reached a settlement in 2007. Apple Inc. took ownership of all "Apple" trademarks, but they let Apple Corps continue to use them for their music business. This agreement allowed the Beatles' music to finally be sold on the iTunes Store in 2010.
Apple vs. EMI
The Beatles also sued their record company, EMI, in 1979, saying they hadn't been paid enough money. They settled this case in 1989, which gave the band more money from their songs. Another similar case started in 2005 and was settled in 2007.
Apple vs. Nike/EMI
In 1987, Apple Corps sued Nike Inc and EMI because Nike used the Beatles' song "Revolution" in a TV commercial without permission. Apple Corps said they weren't told about it and weren't paid.
George Harrison said that if this was allowed, any Beatles song could be used to advertise anything. He felt it was important to stop it to set a rule. The lawsuit was settled out of court in 1989. The details of the settlement were kept secret, but it was suggested that a large amount of money was exchanged. Nike also stopped using the song in their advertisements.
See Also
In Spanish: Apple Corps para niños
Images for kids
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Alistair Taylor in the "one-man band advertisement"
