LONDON: We have been hearing for quite some time that ‘The Beatles’ catalogue would be getting a digital platform like iTunes. But things have not worked out yet though negotiations are on.

The former Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney said on Monday that striking a deal was proving tough though he was still keen to get the band's back catalogue on to the song download service.

“What happens is, when something’s as big as The Beatles, it’s heavy negotiations,” he said during the media launch of his new album. “We are very for it; we’ve been pushing it. But there are a couple of sticking points, I understand. So the last word I got back was that it had stalled, the whole process.”

Though Apple Corps, the Beatles' record label, and music publisher EMI had been negotiating over the issues, nothing has materialized so far, as they could not reach a “satisfactory agreement” about the terms that should be set for song downloads from iTunes and other similar music services, said a media report.

According to Paul McCartney, the EMI wants “something we're not prepared to give them.”

However, EMI is still hopeful of the deal of digitization. “We have been working very hard to secure an agreement with Apple Corps to make The Beatles' legendary recording catalogue available to fans in digital form," said an EMI spokesperson.

While most of the music bands have embraced the digital revolution, The Beatles is yet to do so. Though the trademark dispute, which was considered a stumbling block in the move, was settled last year, the negotiations are getting more and more complicated than initially thought.

It was quite recently that The Beatles had signed a deal for its plunge into the digital music world by licensing its songs to MTV Networks' Rock Band videogame series.