Aim urges indies to stand firm on Apple: Wenham cites MTV victory as precedent for action.(Indies)

Aim CEO Alison Wenham has heralded the collective might of the independents in what has turned into her organisation's most challenging year yet.

Buoyed by a famous victory in March against MTV, she used the platform of last Tuesday's AGM to urge indie labels to "stand firm" in the royalty battle with Apple's new UK iTunes service.

"I can't make decisions for you in the way you run your company, but MTV demonstrated collective will at its best and that is the key," she said. She stressed that Apple CEO Steve Jobs was hoping that some of Aim's members would crack and strike individual deals.

Wenham told the meeting at the University of Westminster that the demonstration of collective action against MTV over the broadcaster's attempt to end an indie-wide royalty deal and secure individual agreements instead had left her with no doubts why she was doing what she was doing.

"The reason for Aim has never been so eloquently demonstrated than this year," she said, as the organisation has had to face up to difficult MTV and iTunes royalty negotiations and the proposed Sony/BMG merger.

She said Aim had earlier this year found itself in a position where MTV was "simply ignoring" the collective will of the independents. "That was a dangerous move by them and I think they've learnt a lesson," she added.

Having been accused by MTV at one point of "megaphone diplomacy"--which she told the AGM she took as a compliment--Wenham now finds herself embroiled ...