It has been announced that Sir Paul McCartney's complete solo and Wings back catalogue will be reissued by the Concord Music Group.

The reissue programme, announced to coincide with the 40th anniversary of 1970's McCartney album, will encompass both physical and digital distribution of McCartney's recordings, and will also include his recordings as The Fireman, Twin Freaks and Percy 'Thrills' Thrillington.

The first album to be reissued will be the classic Band On The Run, seen by many fans as McCartney's finest post-Beatles album. A special multi-disc edition will include bonus material, remastered audio and enhanced packaging.

The move marks a formal end to McCartney's business relationship with EMI Group, which until February 2010 had owned the rights to the majority of his music. McCartney's releases since 2007, including Memory Almost Full and Good Evening New York City, were released by the independent company Concord.

Here's the full press release:

Paul McCartney's MPL and Concord Music Group, one of the world's leading independent music companies today announced an historic agreement to globally market and distribute McCartney's venerated solo and Wings catalog, which encompass 40 years of cherished, classic material from the most successful songwriter and recording artist in music history. Indeed, the music legend has sold an astonishing 100 million solo singles and 700 million albums world-wide in his unparalleled career. The announcement coincides with the 40th anniversary of McCartney, his fabled first solo album released April, 1970.

This exclusive global arrangement, will cover both physical and digital distribution of McCartney's treasured post Beatles catalog including landmark solo albums such as McCartney, Ram, McCartney II, Tug Of War, Pipes of Peace, Give My Regards To Broad Street, Press To Play, Flowers in the Dirt, Off the Ground, Flaming Pie, Driving Rain, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Memory Almost Full, and Good Evening New York City. The classic Wings albums include Wildlife, Red Rose Speedway, Band On The Run, Venus and Mars, Wings At The Speed of Sound, Wings Over America, London Town and Back To The Egg. The catalog also includes the inventive, highly regarded albums recorded under the McCartney pseudonyms Percy "Thrills" Thrillington, The Fireman and Twin Freaks.

The indispensible and remarkably enduring collection of songs represented in McCartney's post 1970 collected works include the gems "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Another Day", "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", "My Love", "Live & Let Die", "Band On The Run", "Jet", "Listen To What The Man Said", "Silly Love Songs", "Let 'Em In", "With A Little Luck", "Mull Of Kintyre", "Coming Up", "Ebony and Ivory", "Say Say Say", "No More Lonely Nights", "My Brave Face", "Hope Of Deliverance", "Fine Line", and "Dance Tonight" among many others.

McCartney fans can look forward to an ambitious and rewarding reissue program beginning in August of 2010 with Band On The Run; Paul McCartney & Wings' classic #1 album from 1973 that spawned the immortal title song as well as the smash hit "Jet". It will be available in a variety of configurations, including a special collector's multi-disc edition with remastered audio, enhanced packaging and rare bonus content.

In 2007 Concord Records and Starbucks partnered to form Hear Music whose inaugural release was Paul McCartney's highly successful, critically acclaimed album Memory Almost Full. The McCartney-Concord relationship has since blossomed to include the 2009 release of McCartney's historic multi-disc live CD/DVD Good Evening New York City and now this landmark multi-year global marketing and distribution partnership.

"Since the release of Memory Almost Full in 2007 I have had a good working relationship with Concord and enjoyed our mutual love of music," stated McCartney. "I'm looking forward to continuing this relationship with the new catalog campaign. I'm always looking for new ways and opportunities to get my music to people and Concord share this passion."

"Working with Paul McCartney, the MPL team and this tremendous catalog is an unbelievable honor," stated Glen Barros, Concord Music Group President and CEO. "To so many of us here at Concord and to millions of people all over the world, Paul's music has formed a big part of 'life's soundtrack'. So to now be a part of representing this amazing body of work is nothing short of a dream come true."