The Independent reports that the labels take home the lion’s share of the cost of a digital download — making more money per track than they do with CDs in shops. Apple, with its iTunes, retains just 4 cents from each 99-cent (55p) track sale while “mechanical copyright” holders — generally the record labels, who own copyright in the song’s recording — take 62 cents or more. Music publishers take the rest — about 8 cents.
With the online sites, the copyright owners have doubled their share of royalties, even though the marginal cost of manufacturing has fallen to almost zero.
The figures also cast doubt on the viability of the dozens of companies storming into the online music market…
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