View this article at: http://www.macnn.com/articles/04/09/22/itunes.song.profits.slim/ Wednesday, Sep 22, 2004 2:45pm Apple earns 4-cents per iTunes track, labels on top Record companies are taking such a large cut from tracks sold online that many of the burgeoning online music stores will go out of business, experts warned yesterday. The Independent reports that labels, who take home the largest share of revenue generated from online music, make more money per track than they do with CD sales: "But figures from the US show that Apple, the dominant legal download business in Europe and the US, 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." The article notes that while the number of online music services grows (and many are expected to close their doors in the coming years), Apple has the distinct advantage--i.e., it is profiting through sales of its iPod.