I dont know what to say about this one folks, the greed train keep on rolling...
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,69255,00.html?tw=newsletter_topstories_htmlThanks to the success of iPod and iTunes, online music sales are growing at a healthy clip. But record labels complain they aren't recouping expenses, while musicians say they're being squeezed to take a pay cut.
"We are seeing artists' money eroded to protect profit margins, and new artists have a right to know this," said James Sellar, general secretary of the Music Managers Forum, which represents managers. "Artists need to be compensated."
The United Kingdom's major labels are currently suing to reduce artists' royalties on digital sales. The British Phonographic Institute, which represents labels, is suing the MCPS-PRS Alliance, a royalty agency that collects fees on behalf of musicians, at a copyright tribunal (a kind of court), demanding lower royalty rates.
Though deals differ, labels are offering to pay about 8.5 percent royalties on the wholesale price of a digital sale, but royalty collectors want 12 percent of the retail price.
"We have a $600 billion consortium ranged against us over 12 percent of a (99 cent) download," said a spokesman for the MCPS-PRS Alliance.
I hope that the folks buying much of this sort of download can see that the artist is only worth 4 1/2 pence out of every pound, perhaps the industry should look seriously at its rhetoric that it sues P2P users to protect the artists, it seems to be their bank balance they are taking care of.
Would any of you folks like to earn less than 5 pence everytime somone downloaded your hard work ?
