The publishers association wants rates raised from 9 cents to 15 cents a track - a 66 percent hike. Apple declined to discuss the board's pending decision or its previous threat to shut down iTunes, but adamantly opposes the publishers' request, reports Fortune. In a statement submitted to the board last year, iTunes vice president Eddy Cue said Apple might close its download store rather than raise its 99 cents a song price or absorb the higher royalty costs, the article adds.
"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," 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."
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