May 7, 2004
Is That Really What the Market Needs?
UPDATE: Apple has denied these rumors.
Frank points to an article that says Apple will be raising its singles prices. Before I believe it, I’ll need some other confirimation, because Steve Jobs has denied these changes so many times and the $.99 has been a central part of their marketing campaign and value.
I do believe, of course, that the record labels are pushing for such changes. Probably, if they’re going to get them anywhere, they’ll have to start with iTunes, the market leader; otherwise, all the other services would only help iTunes grow even more.
But why would they want this? Sure, the temporal price discrimination has a logic, particularly given the exponential decay in sales that most records go through after release. But will consumers stand for it? It’s not just a matter of price points, but one of principle. After many consumers saw the record industry finally trying to produce a reasonable alternative to P2P, it seems they’re backtracking. That seeming unreasonableness of this playing with prices will turn many people off.
Filed by Derek Slater at 3:00 pm under General news
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