EMI has announced (above) a special event with Apple to be held today in London. EMI Chief Executive Eric Nicoli will be joined by Apple Chief Executive and co-founder Steve Jobs to make a joint announcement.

Whlie some are speculating that they will announce that the Beatles’s music will be available for the first time as digital downloads, the Wall Street Journal is saying that EMI will be making a portion of its music catalog available as downloads without DRM:

In a major break with the music industry’s longstanding antipiracy strategy, EMI Group PLC is set to announce today that it plans to sell significant amounts of its catalog without anticopying software, according to people familiar with the matter.

The London music company is to make its announcement at a London news conference featuring Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs. EMI is to sell songs without the software — known as digital rights management — through Apple’s iTunes Store and possibly through other online outlets.

In February, Apple and The Beatles ended their long feud over the use of the name “Apple” in relationship to music. Under the agreement, Apple Inc. (computers) owns all of the trademarks related to ‚ÄúApple‚Äù and licenses certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps (The Beatles) for their continued use.