Mechanical Royalties Could Make History Today (and so might iTunes)

The Copyright Royalty Board is expected to increase the statutory mechanical rate by roughly $.04 today. If it does, Apple claims it will shut down iTunes. That's because Apple will foot the tab that increases the amount of income to songwriters. Apple claims that it won't raise its song rate above $.99 to absorb the new cost, so it would rather shut down.

Hmmm...that's a good one. It holds what, 80% of the digital market? I'd say that's a pretty big bluff. In reality, it probably gives Apple a good reason to change up the pricing scheme to make labels a little happier, since they seem to be pissed that Apple established a monopoly in the digital music market and dropped the value of music so much....without label input as to price.

Either way, it's expected to be a huge day in the music world and I'll keep you posted.

Brock