Disaster averted! Yesterday’s ruling of the Copyright Royalty Board, which threatened to make Apple take its tunes and go home, did not result in a hike to the royalty rate.
The proposal before the board would have raised the royalty rate on online music purchases to 15 cents per track from the current 9 cents. The board’s ruling instead left the rate as it is, though they did implement a 24 cent rate per sale of ringtone. So, if you want to support artists…buy ringtones?
Strangely enough, everybody seemed happy by the move. Apple’s Tom Neumayr said Apple was pleased with the decision; and the Digital Media Association trade group that includes Apple, Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers was likewise happy. Heck, even the representative for the National Music Publishers Association, which proposed the increase was happy that rates weren’t decreased:
“These events will bring clarity and order to an environment that for the past decade has been hampered by litigation and uncertainty,” said David Israelite, president of the publishers’ association, in a statement.
Great. Well, that’s settled then. Everybody wins!
