WASHINGTON (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The Copyright Royalty Board has decided to freeze the rate that online purveyors of digital music such as iTunes must pay to music publishers.
In a letter sent to DiMa, Apple, the National Music Publishers' Association and other stakeholders, the board said that they would continue with the 9.1 mechanical royalty rate per song and set the mastertone rate at 24 cents, sources told Billboard.
The decision is the first consideration by the CRB of mechanical royalty rates since digital music services have come online. DiMA had been seeking an increase of the per song rate from 9 cents to 15 cents, an increase of 66%.
The decision should serve to soothe Apple's jangled nerves — Fortune Magazine reported that Apple had told the CRB that they would "most likely" cease to operate the popular iTunes music store if it "were no longer possible to do so profitably." – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
