CRB Keeps Rates the Same

This just in. The Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, D.C. has declined a pursuance by the National Music Publisher’s Association to raise the royalty rate on digital sales of music. The NMPA had hoped to raise the current rate of 9 cents by two thirds, slamming music ogres like iTunes with a 15 cent royalties due. Apple was concerned that it would be forced to hike their oh-so-sweet 99 cents a song much higher had the board approved the measure.This just in. The Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, D.C. has declined a pursuance by the National Music Publisher’s Association to raise the royalty rate on digital sales of music. The NMPA had hoped to raise the current rate of 9 cents by two thirds, slamming music ogres like iTunes with a 15 cent royalties due. Apple was concerned that it would be forced to hike their oh-so-sweet 99 cents a song much higher had the board approved the measure. The Copyright Royalty Board is a three-judge panel that has been reviewing the legal ramifications of statutory royalty rates for both music companies and publishers. CNN’s money reports Apple pays an estimated 70 cents on the sale of every dollar it collects per song to the record companies responsible for each track. The record companies turn over 9 cents to the music publishers who control the copyrights to these tunes. Physical sales (i.e. CD’s) rates were frozen at 8% of wholesale revenues for the next five years. What does that mean for songsmiths? Writers and musicians will continue to receive 9 cents per song, identical to the precedent already established before the Copyright Royalty Board’s recent ruling. Digital sales continue to rocket like a M-80, rising 38 percent in 2006-2007. For those of you who could really give two rotten apples about money grubbing bean counters in the music industry, this writer would like to also add John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotton, will soon be appearing on American TVs everywhere as commercial spokesman for Country Life butter. The weirdness continues…