Copyright Royalty Board has good news for Apple iTunes

Copyright Royalty Board has good news for Apple iTunes

The US based Copyright Royalty Board has fixed the royalty that songwriters receive on sales of CDs and digital downloads at 9.1 cents per song. This is now going to remain the same for the next five years.

This is good news for Apple as they would not have to change the pricing of songs on their iTunes service to cover up for the extra expenses.

Apple had in fact threatened that they might have to shut down their iTunes service if the royalties were increased.

The company makes little from the sales of the songs as most of the money is given away to labels and musicians.

Apple representative Tom Neumayr said in a statement: “We’re pleased with the CRB’s decision to keep royalty rates stable.”

Mitch Bainwol, chief executive of the RIAA had this to say: “No party got everything it wanted, yet at the end of the day, the certainty provided by this ruling is beneficial.”

National Music Publishers’ Association was also satisfied as their share was not cut if not increased.