Variable Pricing (Sans DRM) Arrives Across Digital Music Retailers, Including iTunes
— ♣On Tuesday, Apple began offering its entire iTunes music catalog without the chains of Digital Rights Management, and at 256KBPS, they’re twice the previous bit rate. This enhancement makes tracks purchased from the popular online retailer virtually indistinguishable from CD copies.
This boon for consumers comes at a price, particularly for fans of contemporary popular hits. In exchange for the right to offer music DRM free, Apple gave in to the industry’s long held desire to make their music available at varying price points. Tracks in the iTunes music store now vary between $.69, $.99, and $1.29 in the US, with the higher price primarily effecting current hits.
But Apple is not alone in these pricing changes. Both Amazon MP3 and Wal-Mart MP3 are offering tracks with similar pricing, ranging from $.64 to $1.29.
At MacWorld Expo in January, Apple promised that more tracks would be offered at the $.69 price point than the $1.29 one. If that promise pans out, then the higher prices for some tracks should be more than made up for by the removal of DRM and the lower prices on some tracks.