April 1 (Bloomberg) -- EMI Group Plc, the world's third- largest music label, is hosting an event in London tomorrow with Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs likely aimed at expanding their online music partnership.

EMI Group CEO Eric Nicoli and Jobs will appear at EMI's London headquarters, according to a press invitation sent today. The invite also says there will be a ``special live performance.''

The event comes two months after Jobs asked EMI and the three biggest music labels to license songs for online sale without copy protection software so music purchased at Apple's iTunes music store can be played on media devices other than the iPod. In February, Apple also ended a dispute with the Beatles over rights to use the Apple name and logo, clearing the way for a possible deal to offer the group's music on iTunes. EMI is the Beatle's label.

``We are not commenting any further,'' EMI spokeswoman Jeanne Meyer, based in New York, said in an interview today. Apple spokesman Steve Dowling also declined to comment.

Jobs called on EMI, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group in February to allow Apple to remove so-called digital-rights management, or DRM, software from their online music. Jobs said the labels, which together control rights to more than 70 percent of the world's music, required his Cupertino, California-based company to create a DRM system for its iTunes store as a condition to selling their music online to prevent illegal copying and distribution of the tracks.

The Beatles

Songs purchased on iTunes only play on Apple's iPod, while music bought from rival sites is tied to gadgets that work with their DRM systems, Jobs said. EMI said at the time that it recognized the lack of interoperability between music players was ``increasingly becoming an issue for music consumers'' and said it was working with partners to find a solution.

Through iTunes, which operates in 22 countries, Apple has sold more than 2 billion songs since starting the site in 2003. The service has more than 70 percent share of the market for music downloads, said NPD in Port Washington, New York.

If EMI removes DRM-protection from its catalog, that could convince the other labels to remove the requirement on some or all of their music, analysts said after Jobs's DRM essay was posted on Apple's Web site.

Speculation that Apple might also come to terms with EMI over the Beatles music started after a Feb. 5 accord ended a long-running legal dispute between Apple Inc. and Apple Corps Ltd., which represents the Beatles business interests, over use of the Apple name.

The two agreed that Apple Inc. owns all trademarks related to ``Apple'' and will license some rights back to the Beatles' Apple Corps for its continued use.

The Beatles' catalog, which includes hits such as ``Let It Be'' and ``Yesterday,'' isn't legally distributed on the Internet today. Songs by the Beatles, who led the ``British invasion'' of U.S. music charts in the 1960s, are among the most frequently downloaded illegally, according to NPD.

To contact the reporter on this story: Connie Guglielmo in San Francisco at cguglielmo1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 1, 2007 19:32 EDT