ASCAP tries to Squeeze Apple & iTunes

The music makers are in a quandary. By failing to embrace digital downloads early on, they failed to create a revenue stream on their own terms via the internet and are now dependent on Apple. When they want to increase their revenue stream, they can only do so with the help of a company that only sells music in order to sell iPods and iPhones. They have been trying to get Apple to raise rates and increase royalties, and have failed. So now they are taking their fight to Congress to charge even for previews.

Songwriters, composers, and music publishers are making preparations to one day collect performance fees from Apple and other e-tailers for not just traditional music downloads but for downloads of films and TV shows as well. Those downloads contain music after all.
These groups even want compensation for iTunes' 30-second song samples.
At a time when many iTunes shoppers are still fuming over Apple's first-ever increase in song prices, the demands by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), and other performing-rights groups, would likely lead to more price hikes at iTunes. For many, this would also undoubtedly confirm their perception that those overseeing the music industry are greedy.

While I appreciate the pressures the Great Recession is having on the music industry, they need to be more careful or they may unwittingly drive customers back to BitTorrents. Creative workers need to be paid, but they also need to be wise.