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'Lost' Beatles song may bring Fab Four to Net sales

Paul McCartney wants to release a "lost" Beatles track, but short of creating another exhaustive compilation, an online release may be his only avenue.

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Are The Beatles finally ready to make a magical mystery tour into the world of online music?

A "lost" track recorded by the band in 1967 and performed only once in public could finally be released, Paul McCartney told the BBC in an interview, according to a report Sunday in The Observer newspaper. The 14-minute "Carnival of Light" was never released because it was considered too "adventurous," McCartney said.

McCartney said he has the master recording and wants the public to hear it.

"I like it because it's The Beatles free, going off piste," he said in the interview. "The time has come for it to get its moment."

McCartney said he lobbied to get the track included with the album Anthology when the exhaustive compilation was released in 1995, but the idea was vetoed.

Of course, the Ringo Starr and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison would still need to approve of the track's release.

Short of releasing another compilation that goes over the same territory as Anthology, an online release may be the song's only commercial avenue.

The band, which has been fiercely resistant to having its music made available for purchase online, has been the subject of frequent rumors that it was ready to make the leap. The Beatles became one of the last high-profile digital music holdouts after Led Zeppelin announced late last year that it would make its catalog available for purchase online.