Labels And Artists Fight Over Piece Of Growing Download Pie

According  to Wired.com, "Thanks 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…"

"…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."

"…Divisions are so strong that artists, managers, publishers and labels can’t agree. A BPI spokesman said its decision to take royalty collectors to court followed "several fruitless years" of negotiation."

"With the success of Apple’s iTunes, labels expect digital music to account for up to 30 percent of world music sales by 2008, according to estimates submitted to the European Commission by Universal Music."