Apple-founded iTunes digital music store may stop its operations in protest as early as today (October 2nd).  Moving from .09 to .15 may not seem like much (out of a .99 purchase fee) but if approved, the royalties an artist receive per download may increase via the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, D.C. (their scheduled ruling on a request from the National Music Publishers’ Association is slated for sometime today).

“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,” iTunes Vice President Eddy Cue wrote. “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.”

This might all sound kind of stingy, BUT keep in mind that this is all an alternative to raising the overall price of downloads.  Why are the royalty requests in-part justified?  Record sales overall are down 20% from this time last year.

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