iTunes ups price of some music

The cost of many top chart downloads has increased as online music store iTunes began a new pricing regime which resulted in a 30 cent rise in some songs from the Irish iTunes store.

Previously all songs cost 99c to download but new prices for Irish users are 69c, 99c and €1.29. The cheaper price is intended for some catalogue music or to introduce new acts with the higher price for new releases and hits.

Apple's three tier pricing was announced in January and was introduced worldwide today.

Itunes, which began its Irish online store in 2005, is the Irish market leader for music downloads. While paid downloads dominate the singles chart, they account for less than 10 per cent of overall music sales.

The change was welcomed by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) due to its flexibility.

"We have been looking for this for years and some deals with iTunes nearly broke down because they wouldn't do it but they have agreed to it now," Dick Doyle of IRMA told The Irish Times. Record companies also hope it make music retail profitable again and future moves such as offering bundles of a ring tone bundled with a song could increase sales.

However the increase in prices did not make sense to some in the independent music industry. "There is no justification for raising the price on digital music. It should actually be brought down so as to increase the volume of sales." David O'Grady owner of Irish label, Independent Records said.

He liked the simplicity and transparency of the 99 cent price and feared that the new pricing system could cause pricing chaos as there has been in record stores. However he thought the possibility of discounts for back catalogues could be a positive move.

Of the top 20 songs in the Irish iTunes single charts today, four were priced at €1.29 (including the number two song Poker Faceby Lady Ga Ga) while one song by US band Metro Station (Shake It) was 69 cent.

Announcing the move last January, Apple CEO Steve jobs said there would be many "more songs priced at 69 cents than $1.29." Itunes worldwide offers over 10 billion tracks its over 75 million users.

Many back catalogues remained at 99 cent today with popular hits by older artists like Abba and Bob Marley raised to €1.29 per song. However record companies indicate that reduction in price for catalogue music is in the pipeline.

Earlier this week Amazon.co.uk dropped the price of some songs to 29 pence in anticipation of the iTunes move. This is only available to UK users, but Vodafone, which charges Irish customers 99c for indie tracks and €1.99 for major labels, said changes in its music service would be announced shortly. Eircom already undercuts iTunes for many tracks which cost 77 cent.

As of today 100 per cent of iTunes music is available DRM free (digital rights management) for an extra fee lifting restrictions on what type and how many music players it can be used on.