Sir Paul McCartney has thrown some cold water on hopes that Beatles’ recordings would finally make it to iTunes, saying that negotiations with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) Inc. have stalled, AP reported.

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As has happened many times before, fans of the band’s music thought they might finally be ready for the digital age last month. MTVN’s Harmonix games studio said it was developing a video game around Beatles’ music. The game, which is not tied to Harmonix’s Rock Band, is scheduled for release by Christmas 2009. And when the Beatles’ label Apple Corps Ltd. settled its long-standing trademark dispute with iTunes creator Apple Inc. last February, it seemed that the main hurdle to a deal was cleared.

McCartney, who is promoting his new album, didn’t shed any light on the current hold-up. AP quoted him saying: “The last word I got back was it’s stalled at the whole moment, the whole process… I really hope it will happen because I think it should.”

—“It’s between EMI and The Beatles” : The stumbling blocks for a Beatles-iTunes rollout have more to do with EMI and Apple Corp. LTD., and not the computer company controlled by Steve Jobs, BillboardBiz reported, quoting Sir Paul from the same press conference. Sir Paul explained that EMI couldn’t agree with The Beatles on the terms that should be set for iTunes and other download services. He was oblique about the exact points of contention: “They [EMI] want something we’re not prepared to give them. Hey, sounds like the music business.” For its part, an EMI rep told BillboardBiz that they have been “working very hard” on a deal that would bring The Beatles’ tracks to iTunes to no avail. The rep added, “but we really hope that everyone can make progress soon.”

Lots more on the Beatles-iTunes saga at our Beatles channel

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