Pat's Posts: Apple Threatens to shut down iTunes – Boo Hoo

Dont get me wrong, Apple have done more to legitimise digital music downloading that all other music players combined. But now Apple are threatening to throw their toys out of the cot and shut down the iTunes music store. Here’s why

The National Music Publishers Association who represents music publishers, has proposed that the royalty rates for digital music sales paid to music publishers is increased to a whole US$0.15 cents per track. For the last 10 years there’s been an agreement in place that had capped royalty rates for all music sales at US$0.09 cents for each song. such an increase could see the iTunes store take a hit and Apple’s vice president of Internet Services, raising royalties could lead to Apple being forced to operate the iTunes Store at a loss.

Speculation is flooding the interweb, clogging up the blogsphere that Apple, being a business first and foremost with shareholders to satisfy, would be forced to shut down the iTunes store. Me I say lets get real here. Surely the real question here is why have musicians put up with such crappy per song royalties? Strangely enough this isnt as headline grabbing as telling the world that iTunes store will close and the sky is falling.

Apple, as the inventors of both the iPod and a range of computers that are sex on toast are surely not that stupid. Why would they shut down the iTunes store when they can simply hike the per track price for their music like all the other music download players will also have to do? Sure those punters who choose to get robbed blind paying for DRM crippled audio might have to pay a little more, but I for one am fairly confident that the iTunes store isnt going to close any time soon……

So why are Apple throwing their toys out of the cot? Let me know what you think, this blog is well overdue for some rampant Apple speculation