[swombat]

The real problem there is that there are already two sets of distributors in the music market.

The songwriters/artists/producers create the songs.

The record companies distribute it.

The "distribution plus" companies like last.fm distribute it.

Now they want Apple to distribute it too (quite reasonably).

Well, one of those distributors is going to have to drop their rates. I'd suggest the one that already takes most of the pie, rather than the poor "distribution plus" innovator squeezed in the middle. But, as we know, the record companies are insane and will not accept this suggestion.

Could they afford to do this if people weren't paying for music? No. Solution: stop paying for music in any form that ends up in the pocket of the big recording labels.

[Macha]

But they don't want Apple to distribute it. Apple is telling them that if they want to distribute to Apple users, it has to be through Apple.