Apparently, dollar downloads are safe -- for the time being anyway. Apple
Apple has been negotiating with the recording industry heavyweights -- that's Sony's
Last year this time, on the exact same topic of digital download pricing, I was of the opinion that the recording industry executives ought to quit their whining about the pricing structure for iTunes; after all, this was the service that actually convinced many people to pay for digital music when piracy was easy and free. I remain of the opinion that the $0.99 per song and $9.99 per album standard is still what customers are willing to pay without drifting back into piracy (although Apple is rolling out innovative packages like video albums that should command premium prices).
The recording industry should realize that piracy continues to be a problem and recognize that they are part of the reason that some consumers don't feel much guilt about lifting digital tunes from unsavory sources. In spite of Apple's dollars-for-downloads model, piracy continues.
So despite all the good news about the public's willingness to pay for digital music, hiking prices on digital tunes may very well throw cold water on their nascent success. And of course, iTunes hasn't seen so much success for nothing.
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Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.