iTunes DRM-Free Tracks Now Same Price As DRM Tracks 250
jawtheshark writes "Apple has made the decision to revise the pricing of Plus songs on the iTunes Music store. Whereas previously the DRM-less tracks were more expensive than the 'normal' option (at $1.29 vs. $0.99), DRM-less tracks bought via ITMS will now be priced on the same level as DRM'd tracks. 'Apple plans to expand iTunes Plus to include certain indie music labels starting Wednesday, October 17 (or sometime this week, at least) ... This expansion won't include all independent music labels just yet, although we're optimistic that more will be included in the future. While we have no information on whether the iTunes Plus songs are selling well, we assume that the decision to drop the price is a response to the Amazon MP3 store. Amazon sells individual tracks for between 89 and 99 apiece, all without any DRM restrictions. With that in mind, it's kind of hard for Apple to compete at $1.29.'"
I realize all of this will continue to evolve... (Score:2, Interesting)
- still has only EMI (and the independents) at this new rate (compared to Amazon, which also has Universal)
- still embeds buyer information inside the files
- is still more expensive (ten cents, granted, but still...), and
- chose to react rather than innovate
It's the fourth bullet point that dismays me the most.
Re:Huh (Score:3, Interesting)
DRM-free, but what about 256kbps AAC? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Hard, but not impossible (Score:3, Interesting)
Amazon has now made using a none iPod as easy or easier then an IPod.
No DRM hoops to jump through. It just works. And it costs no more than iTunes. Add in that you can use them with you iPod it now gives Amazon a bigger potental market than Apple. Amazon can now sell to everybody that has a Music player.
Now if the Networks will just jump on the no DRM bandwagon.
The likely outcome (Score:5, Interesting)
Step 1 - Universal wants higher prices, but Apple refuses.
Step 2 - Universal dumps Apple and goes to Amazon, and Amazon starts selling songs at prices lower than the iTunes Store.
Step 3 - ?
In Step 3, Universal needs to achieve the goals it set out with contract re-negotiations with Apple. The goals were higher prices, with a larger percentage going to Universal for sending over a digital copy of an album four years ago. (The artists, are, as you might imagine, quite irrelevant in their calculations).
So why are they selling tracks at $0.89? To drive people away from the iTunes Store, knock it off its pedestal as the dominant online music retailer, and then jack up the prices once that has occurred and there is a new major player on the block who is more...accommodating...to the wants of the major labels.
Am I suggesting that people abandon Amazon and start paying more of their hard-earned money to Apple? No. What I am suggesting, and what I have done, is to put a moratorium on my online music purchases until things settle down a bit, as I strongly believe Amazon is going to end up screwing us in the end. We have to keep in mind the only reason Universal went with Amazon was because Apple refused to let them dictate terms that would end up raising the price of online music to a point higher than physical CDs themselves.
It's ridiculous to think that these prices are going to last, and that when the "correction" comes, that it will be anything but drastic. Giving Amazon a great deal of business, and thus, the big labels more leverage over operations that have fought for the end users, is detrimental to online music retailing as a whole.
Let me reiterate, the problem is not that the music is being sold by a company other than Apple, but WHY that music is being sold by a company other than Apple at the prices currently asked.
Re:More important (to me at least) (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re:Hardly easier (Score:4, Interesting)
"Amazon MP3 does not yet offer the complete Dixie Chicks catalog. Not all record labels have approved all of their music for sale as MP3s, but we're working to expand selection. "
Since these same labels haven't approved non-drm sales in the iTunes store either, what makes you think they will on the Amazon site? The same "matter of time" will never happen, given the current greedy culture of the labels.
Re:Hard, but not impossible (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Nice (Score:3, Interesting)
DRM free music is a higher value, but one that other stores have already been selling at $0.99, hence Apple has to cut costs to compete, its that simple. I truly believe they dropped the price because they couldn't compete anymore on the no-drm front.