Paul McCartney is predicting the Beatles' catalog will make its long-awaited arrival in the digital realm next year. "It's all happening soon," McCartney told Billboard.com. "Most of us are all sort of ready. The whole thing is primed, ready to go -- there's just maybe one little sticking point left, and I think it's being cleared up as we speak, so it shouldn't be too long.

"It's down to fine-tuning, but I'm pretty sure it'll be happening next year, 2008," he said.

As a group, the Beatles rank among the highest-profile holdouts in putting their catalog online, but a recent settlement to a lengthy trademark dispute between Apple and their company, Apple Corps Ltd., was seen as finally clearing the way.

McCartney said any additional delays in bringing the Fab Four' music to the Internet have been due to "contractual" issues as well as deliberate planning by all parties involved.

The solo catalogs of all four Beatles have been available for download since October, when the music of George Harrison went digital. Apple has not said when it expects to release the Beatles' catalog, though the market has been expecting it since the trademark settlement in February.