Digital Music Stock Market?

tommertron writes "Adam L. Penenberg has a column on Slate about about the pricing of digital music, specifically, iTunes' 99-cent-a-song model. Basically, he suggests that song prices be determined by market forces, just like stock and commodities markets. The more a song gets downloaded, the more it would cost. Song by big-name bands would cost more, and lesser-known acts would cost less (with a minimum of 25 cents.)" From the article: "Steve Jobs, who has been willing to take a few pennies per download so long as he sells bushels of iPods, calls tiered pricing 'greedy.' That view is shared by millions of consumers who believe the record companies have been gouging them for years. From the buyer's perspective, however, Apple's 99-cents-for-everything model isn't perfect. Isn't 99 cents too much to pay for music that appeals to just a few people?"

Love this idea

[spacedx]

This is great -- as long as the maximum price is 99 cents.

Re:Oh, for God's sake

[fembots]

more than 99 cents per song doesn't work. 99 cents per song, OTOH, does work

This reminds me of "There's Something About Mary", when the Hitchhiker was telling Ted that his 7-Minute Abs will be more popular than the 8-Minute Abs.

Similar Model...

[jnadke]

If such a model were applied to Operating Systems, Windows would cost $200 and Linux would be free... Oh wait, it is. And like the music distribution model, the higher priced stuff is crap.

Redundancy

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow every single post here is redundant except one!

99 Cents is Cheap For Me

[SomeoneGotMyNick]

Isn't 99 cents too much to pay for music that appeals to just a few people?

I like listening to classic Yes. It appeals to a few people. Due to the average Yes track length, at 99 cents a track, whole albums only cost me about $2 or $3 each.

Re:Oh, for God's sake

[modecx]

"Isn't 99 cents too much to pay for music that appeals to just a few people?"

Holy shit, this part made my chin hit the floor. It's clear that stupid just got a new champion. Every song, pretty much no matter how bad it is, is going to appeal to someone out there to the point where they're willing to fork over 99 cents! It's a perfectly resonable price.

I would consider it a Christmas miracle if iTunes, for no apparent reason, produced a penis-shaped sound wave through this guy's iPod that would unclog the bullshit that's crammed between his ears... It might even renew my faith in the universe!

Re:Oh, for God's sake

[jimbolauski]

I like the idea of stock market songs I could be one of the first to purchase the song for $.99 and then could sell it back for $1.25. I'm sure I could write a simple script that would purchase new songs by popular artists at since price would be based on sales and make a fortune. By the way I am patiening the idea of creating a script or a program to purchase online music and then resell it at the ceiling price.

Wall...no, Elm Street

[Heffenfeffer]

I'm on board with this idea too! Just think of the possibilites...

Short Selling - Think that Britney Spears is overpriced? Then sell first while it costs $5/song and then buy it when it devalues to 99 cents! (Note: will cause loss of ability to listen to sample)

Buying Music on Margin - Really want that new Sum41 CD, but don't have the bread? Just mark some old Nickelback tracks as 'margin' songs and then rock out! (Warning: will lose ability to listen to Nickelback until Sum41 increases in value enough to cover margin call)

Song Options - As a reward for working more than two years for EMI, you'll be able to purchase 1,000 songs at $0.25 each, regardless of their listed price! (Warning: Insider Trading is prohibited)