LOS ANGELES — Nearly a decade after Apple Inc. introduced iTunes, the digital downloading service has finally acquired the music of the Beatles. Apple on Tuesday rolled out the Fab Four’s music for legal downloading for the first time, offering 17 albums encompassing all 13 of the group’s original studio albums, the two “”Past Masters”” collections of non-album tracks, two double-album hits compilations and a box set including everything except the hits collections.

Individual tracks are being sold for $1.29, the single albums for $12.99, double sets for $19.99, and the box set is priced at $149. The digital box set also includes an exclusive-to-iTunes concert film, “”Live at Washington Coliseum, 1964,”” never previously released officially.

“”We’re really excited to bring the Beatles’ music to iTunes,”” Paul McCartney said in a statement issued Tuesday. “”It’s fantastic to see the songs we originally released on vinyl receive as much love in the digital world as they did the first time around.””

“”I am particularly glad to no longer be asked when the Beatles are coming to iTunes,”” Ringo Starr added in the same statement. “”At last, if you want it — you can get it now.””

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said, “”It has been a long and winding road to get here. Thanks to the Beatles and EMI, we are now realizing a dream we’ve had since we launched iTunes 10 years ago.””

The Beatles have been the biggest holdout from the iTunes world, but several other major acts still have not licensed music to the downloading service, including Garth Brooks, Kid Rock, AC/DC, Def Leppard, Tool and Bob Seger.

Shortly after the 2007 resolution of a long-standing dispute between the Beatles’ Apple Corps and Jobs’ Apple Inc., another lawsuit was settled between Apple Corps and EMI Records dispute over royalty payments that Apple said was owed by EMI.

Last year Paul McCartney said the only hurdle to posting the group’s music online was remaining differences between EMI and Apple Corps’ “”principals””: himself, Ringo Starr, John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, and George Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison. The settlement of those issues led to the posting on iTunes in recent weeks of the non-Beatles Apple Records catalog, which led to considerable speculation that the Beatles music wouldn’t be far behind.

Most Beatles watchers felt it was just a matter of time until the group’s music became available for downloading following the digital remastering of the entire catalog last year. That music was released on individual CDs and in two box sets that sold strongly during the final quarter of 2009. EMI and Capitol also recently reissued two hits “”best-of”” compilations that originally appeared in 1973: “”The Beatles/1962-1966″” and “”The Beatles/1967-1970,”” aka the “”Red”” and “”Blue”” albums.

“”It’s great to see Apple finally joining civilization here in 2010,”” said Chris Carter, host of the long-running “”Breakfast With the Beatles”” program on KLOS-FM in Southern California and on Sirius XM Satellite radio.