Since the start of last year, the Music industry has got really aggressive in trying to fight piracy with a variety of methods such as sending warnings to ISPs, slapping lawsuits on individuals, education on piracy, raiding suspect sites, enforcing DRM measures on downloadable content and crippling audio CDs. Their main aim has been to tempt consumers to use legal alternatives and control what they do with their content.
Just when iTunes and many others seem to be going very well, the five major record companies now figures that the 99c online pricing is too low and they are trying their best to up prices to at least $ 1.25 per track. Apple has consistently resisted, but has agreed to tighten DRM restrictions as an alternative. The record labels have taken another cheeky move by trying a 99p per single approach inEngland. This may look low at first, but just note that 99p works out about $ 1.76; a ~77% hike on the same 99c being sold in the US.
Another thing to consider is the ~10,000 track capacity of a 40GB iPod. While iPod players are pricey as it is, imagine purchasing 10,000 tracks to fill one. Thus raising prices will likely cause disaster for legal music services
and the music industry's anti-piracy efforts, since many music lovers will
simply go back to their old habbits to avoid the price hike. Finally
some companies have suggested renting music for a flat rate, but the music industry do not like this approach. GristyMcFisty submitted the following news via our news submit :
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There have been a number of newspaper exclusives about ongoing negotiations whereby prices are set to rise, and every journalist is telling the same story. The New York Post, for instance, says that the five major record labels - Universal, Sony, BMG, EMI and Warner Music - have already signed new deals with Apple and new pricing is being rolled out now. In effect, the 99 cent pricing that drove Apple iTunes into the limelight and to its subsequent success, will rise to .25 per track. In Europe, where Apple iTunes and Napster are keen to launch services similar to the US, Faultline has been told that what's holding the process up is how to find a way to satisfy the powerful royalty collections bodies and that it's all a matter of price. Read the full article here. |
Last month Destra saw a 565% sales increase just by dropping their track pricing to 89 cent per track. If a 10 cent drop makes over a five times increase in sales, imaging what would happen if Apple did raise its prices by 25 cent. While Apple does not profit from the store, they use its store to promote its iPod which means losing iTunes customers would potentially mean losing iPod buyers. This is likely the reason why apple insists on keeping its fixed 99c single price.
Feel free to discuss and read more about music download services on our Music Downloads, P2P & Legal Issues Forum.
Source: The Register - Internet & Law
