According to a French blog known as ElectronLibre, Apple will be announcing a completely DRM free iTunes music store on December 9th. With information pointing to this being on a global scale, it would mean that Apple has finally come to an agreement with Universal Music, SonyBMG Music and Warner. Furthermore, on top of this more »

A Thursday ruling from the Copyright Royalty Board could force Apple to follow through on a threat to close down the iTunes Music Store. The Board, a three-judge panel, which will determine how much money creators are paid for their works, could follow through on a request from the publishers association to increase payments from 9 cents to 15 cents a track. Apple has said that move would make the ITMS unprofitable, and that it would be shut down rather than operate at a loss.

CNN has this statement from Eddy Cue Apple’s VP for iTunes:

“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.”

To which I reply, yeeeeeeeah, sure.

More after the break.

We all know by now how Kid Rock feels about the iTunes Store, but what if you’re not a former star fighting for relevancy in an industry that’s otherwise forgotten about you? What if the industry has yet to even acknowledge you?

A couple years ago, I interviewed three indie bands—Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer, Bishop Allen and Splitsville—about the process of getting into the iTunes store and how they’re using it to appease and increase their fan base. I’m posting the article again here in a slightly updated form, as the answers I recieved may shed some light on the iTunes process, and will maybe help Kid Rock learn that perhaps music sales aren’t always about just making money.

Discover the spirit of rock and roll after the break.

Apple is reporting that its iTunes music store has now registered over 5 billion downloaded songs from the online music store. Recently crowned as the number one music store by market research firm NPD Group’s MusicWatch. In addition to having sold over 5 billion songs, the online music store is also reporting that around 50,000 more »

It appears as if Kid Rock won’t be putting his singles or albums up for download on iTunes just yet. The reason for this is that he believes Apple doesn’t pay musicians enough money for putting their music on iTunes. According to him, “iTunes takes the money, the record company takes the money, and they more »

Well it’s about time! Radiohead has finally come to its senses and has agreed to sell tracks on iTunes. Initially, they refused when Apple told them they had to sell them. It was the entire album or nothing. I never understood the reasons Radiohead was so resistant to selling tracks. They would still get paid more »