From The New York Times Writer Brad Stone:
“Change is hard. So today might be a difficult day for some music lovers. The country’s largest music retailer, Apple, is finally flipping the switch on what it calls “variable pricing” and on what the music industry calls the last, best hope to turn around its rapidly declining fortunes.
That single, comforting price of 99 cents for all songs in the iTunes music store is being replaced today by three pricing tiers: 69 cents for the oldies-but-not-so-goodies, $1.29 for some hot new hits, and 99 cents for nearly everything else. Apple is setting the prices based on the wholesale prices set by the music labels.
Apple described the changes in January at Macworld, but today we have the first specific indications of how the music labels will approach the new tiers. Here’s a quick first look. Thirty-three of the top 100 songs now sell at $1.29 – and the rest at 99 cents.
Sony BMG has priced the recent Pink single “So What” and the elegantly titled Kelly Clarkson single, “My Life Would Suck Without You,” at $1.29.
Universal Records’ Interscope label has priced the new Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga and Soulja Boy songs at $1.29 as well. Warner has songs from country crooners the Zac Brown band at the higher tier as well.
But songs from Disney’s Miley Cyrus and EMI’s Coldplay and Katy Perry, all popular artists, remain at 99 cents.” Continue Reading
