Apple raises iTunes music price by 30%

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-08 11:26

BEIJING -- A new pricing for music of Apple's iTunes, the world's largest music store, took effect Tuesday, with price of some music up 30 percent.

In January, Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice-president of worldwide product marketing, stated that the company would switch to tiered pricing: 69 cents a song for the older catalog, 99 cents for most new songs, and one dollar and 29 cents for the most popular tracks.

An Apple Nano and iTunes music card on a computer keyboard. Apple on Tuesday changed its trademark standard of charging 99 cents per song at online shop iTunes in a deal with recording studios that strips anti-piracy software from digital downloads. [Agencies]

Releases from new artists will be sold at a lower price, while more well-known artists will be tagged with a higher rate. Most of the 10 million songs in the iTunes catalogue are expected to remain at 99 cents.

Before the new pricing, Apple charged a flat 99 cents for every tune, a strategy that didn't fit well with record companies, which had been pressuring Apple for more pricing flexibility.

In the battle of declining CD sales, the music industry is hoping to gain more revenue from digital downloads.

Online retailer Amazon.com launched its music download service from the start with only DRM-free music from all the major record labels and has always offered variable pricing.