The Beatles are one of the few remaining classic artists whose work is as-yet unavailable to download. Interest in the band is peaking once again with the release of The Beatles: Rock Band, and Paul McCartney has spoken out about his frustration at the handling of their back catalog.

"We were having problems with iTunes – well not iTunes, EMI was the problem – with downloading, which we'd like to do because that's how a lot of people get their music," he said. "We've kind of bypassed that because now you can do it in Rock Band. I always liked that, when you're told you can't do something and suddenly there's a little route round the back."

So the Beatles' songs may yet make it to the iTunes store, but there’s a burning question on most of their fans minds: has McCartney played Rock Band? "I haven't tried it," he admitted. "When you go to a demo they play it and I go, 'God that looks hard!'." The Beatles: Rock Band is released tomorrow (Sept. 9).

[NME]