I hope this doesn't happen!

The BBC is reporting that...

iTunes Store Shutdown Feared

A veiled threat by Apple to close its iTunes store has emerged 18 months after it was issued and just a day before royalty rates are to be set.

The Copyright Royalty Board meets on Thursday to rule on a requested 66% increase for sales of digital music from 9 cents to 15 cents a track.

A rise would have to be paid by either Apple, the record company or consumer.

Apple pays an estimated 70% of digital music revenue to record companies which in turn pass on a percentage to artists. It is that percentage that is expected to be changed on Thursday.

The forthcoming decision by the three judge panel will set rates for the next five years. It will be the first affecting digital sales.

With CD sales falling last year by 20% to $7.4bn (£4bn), record companies are unlikely to be willing to soak up any increase in rates.

Greg Sandoval at CNET said the timing of the emergence of the Apple document is interesting.

"When it comes down to mass appeal, Apple holds all the cards.

" If word gets out that music publishers are trying to stick it to consumers, and Apple is fighting to keep prices down on their behalf, well, there's liable to be public backlash against the labels.

"If this thing follows the normal course, there would be calls for boycotts, protests and so on."

Piper Jaffray estimates that Apple will sell 2.4 bn songs this year, giving it an 85% share of the digital music market.