Apple sets tune for pricing of song downloads
source Financial Times
by Joshua Chaffin and Kevin Allison
posted 2006-05-01
Apple Computer on Monday revealed it had renewed contracts with the four largest record companies to sell songs through its iTunes digital store at 99 cents each. The agreements came after months of bargaining, and were a defeat for music companies that had been pushing for a variable pricing model.
The music industry’s big four – Universal, Warner Music, EMI and Sony BMG—were not immediately available to comment.
Since iTunes’ launch three years ago, Apple has charged US consumers 99 cents for each track—a uniform price that Steve Jobs, its chief executive, favours because of its simplicity for consumers…
