Legal Research

Q: What’s Worse Than Rising Gas Prices?

A: Rising music download prices. The LA Times reports that, come April 7, certain hot songs will now cost $1.29 over at the iTunes Store. Back in January Apple announced the price increase, but didn’t give a firm date.

OK, I get that the tracks will be DRM-free. And I know that most iTunes songs will continue to cost 99 cents. But why jack up the price now, in the current economic climate?

“The willingness to experiment with pricing is a sign of a maturing market, said Russ Crupnick, a senior analyst for NPD Group. U.S. digital music sales topped $1 billion for the first time in 2008, up 27% from the year before, but Crupnick estimates that average spending has leveled off at $41 per consumer. ‘If you’re not drawing new people and your spending isn’t growing, it’s a natural part of the product life cycle’ to raise prices, Crupnick said.”

Squeezing every last penny from music sales. Let me think … where have I read about that before?

Full post as published by Jenkins Webblits on March 26, 2009 (boomark / email).