Fast Company Names Apple Corps Ltd. One of the World's Most Innovative Companies

LONDON, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Fast Company's annual Most Innovative Companies issue honors Apple Corps Ltd., The Beatles' label and management company, as one of the world's top envelope-pushing businesses, it was announced today, alongside major brands including Cisco, Disney, and GE, as well as such rising newcomers as Spotify, Gilt Groupe, HTC, and the Indian Premier League.

In addition to its overall Top 50 and 59 Innovation All-stars, culled from past Top 50 honorees, Fast Company has ranked the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in 24 categories, including advertising and marketing, biotech, film and TV, media, music, and sports.  Apple Corps Ltd. is ranked second in Fast Company's list of the world's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Music.

"It was invigorating to engage with so many exciting new ideas and developments," said Fast Company editor Robert Safian.  "Our goal was to offer a snapshot of the creativity at work in the global marketplace, and to inspire the Fast Company audience with illustrations of how powerful and effective business can be."                                    

"Apple Corps Ltd. is honored to be recognized by Fast Company as one of the world's most innovative companies," said Apple Corps Ltd. CEO, Jeff Jones. "We are proud to represent the world's most powerful music brand in The Beatles, and we take great care to advance it with the unparalleled respect and reverence The Beatles have earned as a band and as individuals."

In 2009, Apple Corps Ltd. celebrated the third anniversary of the successful Las Vegas stage production, The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil®, and collaborated with partners EMI Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, MTV Games and Harmonix for the highly anticipated September 9 (9-9-09) worldwide release of the band's digitally re-mastered catalog on CD and the generation-bridging, critically acclaimed new video game, The Beatles: Rock Band.

50 years after their formation, The Beatles broke multiple chart records around the world, selling more than 10 million re-mastered CDs by year's end.  In addition, The Beatles' 1 hits collection, released in 2000, was the decade's best-selling album in the U.S. (11.5 million), and The Beatles were the decade's second top-selling artist, with cumulative U.S. album sales topping 30 million.

In December, Apple Corps Ltd./EMI released a worldwide limited edition of 30,000 apple-shaped 16GB USB drives, loaded with the re-mastered audio for The Beatles' 14 stereo titles, as well as all of the re-mastered CDs' visual elements.   

Disney, a Fast Company Most Innovative Companies co-honoree, has announced a 3D remake of The Beatles' classic 1968 animated film, Yellow Submarine, to be directed by Robert Zemeckis. In partnership with Apple Corps Ltd., the film, planned for release in 2012, will feature original Beatles music.

To create this year's Most Innovative Companies issue, Fast Company's editorial team analyzed information on thousands of businesses across the globe. The result is a package unlike that of any other business media. It's not just about revenue growth and profit margins; it's about identifying creative models and progressive cultures – to define the many forms of innovation that exist across the business landscape.  

Overall, Fast Company recognized 250-plus companies, including more than 75 non-U.S. businesses. Facebook leads the annual ranking of the Top 50, after growing its user-base from 150 million to 350 million in just one year. Five of the Top 50 are based in China: Huawei (No. 5), BYD (No. 16), Alibaba (No. 29), HTC (No. 31), and Huayi Brothers (No. 42).

Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies issue (March 2010) is on newsstands now, and is online at www.fastcompany.com/MIC.  

About Apple Corps Ltd.

Apple Corps Ltd. was founded by The Beatles in 1968 to look after the group's own affairs. The London-based company has administered the catalogue of The Beatles releases of the 1960s that have sold to date more than 600 million records, tapes and CDs.  Since the 1990s, Apple Corps has piloted new Beatles projects that have become benchmarks for pioneering accomplishment and which have included The Beatles Anthology projects, the 28 million-selling album The Beatles 1, and The Beatles LOVE show and Grammy-winning CD. Further information on The Beatles' projects can be found at www.thebeatles.com.

About Fast Company

Fast Company is an award-winning monthly magazine, Web site, and digital distribution platform that covers the business of innovation like no other media source. Editor Robert Safian was named AdWeek's Editor of the Year in 2009.  FastCompany.com, under the auspices of executive editor Noah Robischon and publisher Christine Osekoski, has tripled traffic and revenue year over year. Fast Company is owned by Joe Mansueto, founder and owner of Morningstar, a leading provider of independent investment research.

SOURCE Apple Corps Ltd.