Ending one of the longest-running commercial deals in music history, Sir Paul McCartney has terminated his contract with EMI.

The musician has been with the UK-based label since the 1960s, with EMI releasing both the Beatles’ and Sir Paul’s solo work.

Sir Paul is believed to have been unhappy with Terra Firma, the troubled private equity company that borrowed billions to buy EMI – and which recently breached the covenants of its teetering $US4.1 billion loan deal with Citibank.

A Commerce Commission investigation has resulted in a voluntary change of rules in the music copyright industry that will allow for competition to occur, to the benefit of those who purchase licenses for copyrighted music, the watchdog says.

The commission began an investigation in 2009, following a complaint about royalty agreements between owners of music copyright and Phonographic Performance NZ (PPNZ).

The most famous recording studio of all time is being hocked off.

The Beatles’ Abbey Road recordings helped define the 1960s, and are among the most famous of all time.

The studio was purpose built by the band’s record label, EMI, for £100,000 (or around £4.53 million today) , and The Beatles used it for almost all their recordings between 1962 and 1969.

Ironically, The Beatles final LP, Abbey Road, was not recorded at the studio. Nevertheless, its cover depicting the fab four on a zebra crossing outside has become a pop culture icon.

In the US, some of the biggest tech buzz of the year has been generated by Spotify, an online music service that lets you stream an unlimited amount of songs via the internet each month, for a set fee, rather than buy tracks or albums individually on the iTunes model.

Last month, a similar service was launched in Australia, called Bandit.fm.

Now, Bandit.fm is set to migrate across the Tasman with a New Zealand launch set for late November.