iTunes won't close down! Music royalty hike turned down by CRB

The planned royalty increase for CD and digital music downloads was slapped down by the Copyright Royalty Board, according to MarketWatch.

A three-judge panel oversaw the decision, declining a raise from 9.1 cents per song to 15 cents. The royalty increase faced stiff opposition from music stores, with Apple threatening that, should the royalty hike go through, it would cease operations of the iTunes music store. iTunes is currently the largest music retailer in the US, having recently pulled ahead of Walmart.

After hearing of the planned royalty hike, iTunes VP Eddy Cue suggested that iTunes would close, since they could offer no mutually beneficial alternative. iTunes would either run at a loss, or they would have to charge more for music, which would infuriate customers.

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