Filed under: Audio, Internet, News, Windows, Macintosh, Apple
Will Apple be pressured into raising iTunes Music Store prices?
by Barb Dybwad Aug 8th 2005 at 5:49PM
AppleInsider is reporting that record labels are currently talking up "Apple's 2006 problem," which refers to their licensing renegotiations with the labels, on the docket for next year. We're betting you couldn't have guessed this, but the labels have been pushing Apple to raise their current fixed price for a la carte track downloads. Some say the two-tier pricing scheme employed at the iTMS Japan foreshadows inevitable price increases in the US, Canada and Europe. So, what's your verdict -- are you willing to pay more per song at the iTMS?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
emily. said 6:19PM on 8-08-2005
No, I will not pay more per track. It's bad enough that everything has a DRM shackle on it, now they want to raise prices?! I see no reason to pay more for something that has no greater value, and if the price goes up I'll just go back to buying physical CDs that I can rip and then use wherever I choose.
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David Chartier said 9:40PM on 8-08-2005
No way. I'm a huge fan of the iTMS because I'm happy with the pricing, and I've heard that the artists get a bit more $$ out of it than the labels. If they raise the prices I'm looking for my music elsewhere, and I'm sure a lot of others will too!
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christopher said 7:07PM on 8-08-2005
I second the motion to deny a price increase. Demand has been demonstrated. Supply is infinite and artificially constricted. Just how much money the labels think they can extract from consumers will soon be put to the test again... and they will lose.
-C
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DennisQ said 12:32PM on 8-11-2005
$1 is my limit. Psychologically it works great for me. If it were $1.50 then that would make me think twice on impulse purchases. Once prices for DRM'd and lower bitrate music matches physical CD prices, I immediately go out and get the CD. I picked up the Natasha Bedingfield CD recently b/c it was $8 on sale (the week it came out) instead of $10 on itunes. On the otherhand, I will always buy albums on iTunes for $10 vs $12+ in stores. The have to keep it cheaper than real CDs for them to keep me as a customer. Plus I prefer to buy my songs one at a time instead of full albums. Here again is where they've made tons of money off of me b/c I see it as a value. If it becomes more than $1.00 for the singles I want, I'll probably hold off on most of them, and go back to buying CDs less frequently when I know I'll like most of the album.
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RichardZ.com said 8:51PM on 8-08-2005
I'm with everyone else. I rarely use iTunes to purchase music but when I do, it's because the 1 dollar price tag is reasonable. Change that (ugly greed shows through) and I'm looking at other resources.
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Dave M. said 9:28PM on 8-08-2005
I agree with all the above. Except, I'm worried that we won't be able to rip our purchased CD's since they will have protection on them. At some point, we are going to be either forced to "steal" the content that we purchased, or maybe, just maybe we should consider music from places like the Podsafe Music Network! (http://music.podshow.com/)
Between radio (thanks Clear Channel Communications) and the RIAA, my "radio" has been podcasts these days and personally the music is tons better and the "talk" is actually interesting.
What really amazes me is why the RIAA is confused about why the record industry is going down the toilet. They seem to think it's the downloaders when in fact, it's the RIAA pushing the consumer away!
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Charlie said 10:23AM on 8-09-2005
I imagine it is just a small group of people who really make the money in the music "industry". I say we oust the beyotches. Who's with me?!
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Chris said 5:29AM on 8-09-2005
I say no to the price hike too. The $0.99 price is a perfect price point for single songs and really encourages the customer to buy the whole album as well. Pushing higher will discourage too many potential people. I, for one, will no longer buy if that is the case.
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Dave M. said 4:27PM on 8-09-2005
The last round of potential price hike talks mentioned adding value to the hike. Basically having an entry in the store with 3 or 4 songs or maybe a song and a video for the higher price. Sounds great, but only if I want the other tracks/video. If not, and I only want just the single track, I wouldn't be able to get it and I would have to resort to "other" means to obtain it.
I really can't see Apple allowing the RIAA to raise the prices. Apple is selling bazillions of tracks at the $.99 price point. Why would they want to allow the prices to be raised and stop the flow of legal downloads to all but stop. They would probably be better off if they just closed the store if the RIAA forced a price hike.
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