* UPDATED: The Beatles blame EMI for delayed downloads through Apple's iTunes

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney this afternoon blamed record label EMI for any delay in making music from the band available through iTunes.

McCartney said that he wants music from The Beatles to be made available as downloads, and slammed EMI for the long wait so far.

Speaking to the NME, he said: “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.”

McCartney notes the band’s sidestepped the problem by getting involved in the new 'The Beatles: Rock Band' game, which is released tomorrow (September 9).

We also know that Apple will host a music-related special event tomorrow - with huge speculation that music from the band will be made available through iTunes.

We still don’t know, and McCartney isn’t telling us, saying only: "We've kind of bypassed that [download problems] because now you can do it in 'Rock Band'," he said. "I always liked that, when you're told you can't do something and suddenly there's a little route round the back."

We’re hoping Apple Corps. and Apple Inc. have also found their own backstairs route to shoving music up onto iTunes.

UPDATE: Stand easy, as it looks unlikely music from The Beatles will make it onto iTunes tomorrow, with EMI continuing to drag its feet, denying legal music downloaders the chance to purchase music from one of the world's biggest bands. Speaking to the Financial Times, Ernesto Schmitt, EMI’s global catalog  president, said: “Conversations between Apple and EMI are ongoing and we look forward to the day when we can make the music available digitally. But it’s not tomorrow."

Which seems a great shame.

Meanwhile, here’s a video trailer for the Rock Band game, currently announced for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii...