McCartney wants Beatles+iTunes deal, talks have stalled

What’s holding up the release of the Beatles catalog on iTunes? Not (Sir) Paul McCartney, who told the press that while talks have stalled, he wants it to happen.

“The last word I got back was it’s stalled at the whole moment, the whole process,” the former Beatle said Monday. “I really hope it will happen because I think it should.”

McCartney, who was speaking at the launch of his new album, Electric Arguments, added: “It’s between EMI and the Beatles, I think.”

McCartney is, of course, best known for writing the theme song to Spies Like Us.

Apple Corp, which controls the Beatles licensing, has had a long and tempestuous wrangle with Apple over their name, which came to a head when Apple got into the music business with the iTunes store. The two companies struck a deal last year, and many were predicting that Beatles albums, not legally available in any digital format, would soon be appearing on iPods everywhere. So far, that hasn’t happened, but you can tide yourself over by downloading some songs by “Wings.” That McCartney medley gets them every time.

Read on for a statement from EMI about “various parties” (cough, cough, we want more money from Apple, cough).

Read [Huffington Post (if you're a dirty lefty pinko)]