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Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
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iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
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Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

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Discover New Music

  • Zooropa

    • 10 out of 10
    • U2
    • This record is perhaps U2's finest hour, yet it has been forgotten as a strange by-product of the ZooTV tour's overload, and is generally regarded by most fans as a poor effort. It is this sentiment t
  • De Nova

    • 10 out of 10
    • The Redwalls
    • Wow! Perhaps my 5-star rating is simply because the Redwalls are not only new and fresh (none of them older than 22!), or perhaps its because -- despite their ages -- they are able to totally capture
  • Billy Miles

    • 10 out of 10
    • Billy Miles
    • Take the voice of a young Billie Holiday and stuff it into a svelte, petite body with the face of an angel, and you have some idea of what it's like to experience the music of Billy Miles in her self-
  • Aretha Sings the Blues

    • 6 out of 10
    • Aretha Franklin
    • While she didn't always have the best taste in song selection, Aretha Franklin is a must-study for anyone with interest in the human voice. She has the kind of powerful, recklessly passionate deliv

  • Mystics Anonymous

    • 8 out of 10
    • Mystics Anonymous
    • Mystics Anonymous is the brainchild project of Jeff Steblea, a fantastic songwriter and good friend of mine, as well. In fact, I even played the drums on all but one of the tracks on this album. Jef

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News

Apple Threatens to Shut Down iTunes

The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) is expected to rule on Thursday on an increase in royalties for music purchased online. Apple’s Eddie Cue said that if that forces the iTunes store to lose money, Apple will shut it down, according to Fortune on Tuesday.

At issue is the royalty rates which could rise from 9 cents to 15 cents per song. Eddie Cue, Apple’s executive in charge of iTunes, was reported to have told the CRB that Apple would shut down iTunes rather than raise the price of songs or absorb the proposed increase in royalty fees.

"If the [iTunes music store] was forced to absorb any increase in the ... royalty rate, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss - which is no alternative at all," Mr. Cue wrote to the CRB. "Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it is in this business to make money, and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes music store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably."

The Copyright Royalty Board, which reports to the U.S. Library of Congress, and, among other duties, oversees royalty payments for music. A recent ruling by the CRB increased payments for songs played on Internet radio, and that brought the near collapse of Pandora and Internet radio. Congress had to step in.

It is well known that Apple’s iTunes store make very little music money, enough to operate the service, and that the primary purpose is to sell Apple hardware -- iPods. Apple pays 7 cents of each 99 cents to the record companies. The remainder has to pay for operating expenses and credit card fees.

The record companies argue that rate should increase because digital music is increasingly popular and everyone will prosper from higher prices. A representative of the National Music Publishers Association, David Israelite, also complained: "We don’t make a penny on the sale of an iPod."

It would be interesting to hear why he thinks the record industry should.

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