iTunes Music Store Prices to Increase?

record industry is full of dummies who plan on milking a 20 year old business model as long as they can. As for supply and demand. They have an infinite supply. Why not lower prices on all music downloads to increase volume sales. Does it cost them more? I think not. Imagine a world where cutomers downloaded songs without a second thought because the price was so unbelieveably low. Considering there is no P&D cost to 'stocking' the additional units. It seems assinine to me that the price isn't lowered in favor of increasing the volume sold. More songs sold=more songs played and heard by others =more songs sold

record industry is full of dummies who plan on milking a 20 year old business model as long as they can. As for supply and demand. They have an infinite supply. Why not lower prices on all music downloads to increase volume sales. Does it cost them more? I think not. Imagine a world where cutomers downloaded songs without a second thought because the price was so unbelieveably low. Considering there is no P&D cost to 'stocking' the additional units. It seems assinine to me that the price isn't lowered in favor of increasing the volume sold. More songs sold=more songs played and heard by others =more songs sold

Does anyone know what economic theories say about what happens to the law of supply and demand when supply becomes, essentially, infinite? It's not costing the record companies any more to serve popular tracks than unpopular ones (unless you count promotion costs, which, as far as I can tell, is the only real difference between a popular track and an unpopular one).

A PC user commenting on an all Apple blog!!?? Whoa. Yes, I aggree, the RIAA is going way too far now. First the Sony fiasco and now more gimme, gimme, gimme more cash. It's time to start beating the war drums. There is an old saying, "Perception is the Reality." Boycott, boycott, and boycott. I know many of you ecomnomic whizkids will state a boycott won't do this because money that disappeared here will end up moved to this account and the RIAA will just blame file sharing and it will be for nothing. Here me out. If we beat the war drums about a boycott loud enough and state our valid reasons why; it will be heard and the RIAA will be scared enough to listen. You, the customer, don't want a variable pricing structure in iTunes and that annoying DRM that doesn't let you do what you want to do with the music you legally purchased? Don't use the iTunes store. Beat that drum LOUD. Sure as shit Steve Jobs will here and go after the RIAA like Homer Simpson at an all you can eat seafood restaurant if you threaten to stop using iTunes. This is what the customer wants and this is what the customer should get because this is what they want to spend their money on. The RIAA and it's cronies get a stipend (Cough*tax*cough) from every piece of blank media you buy (CD, DVD, DAT tape, you name it). Why? Because they were able to convince the members of Congress that everyone who buys a blank 'something' is a pirate. Guilty before being proven innocent, eh? Hell, in their eyes, guilty and never innocent. And after this Sony XCP security mess; it time to fight back. Tell Apple that if that change the pricing structe of iTMS, you will not use it. Change the DRM while you're at it; it don't like the fact that I can't copy music from the iPod (by default at least). Tell the major retailers that you will not purchase a CD because of the Sony XCP mess. And the threat will hang out there for the MPAA. You know they're sitting on the sidelines still watching this unfold; but you know they're ready to start the underhanded draconian DRM. Let them see a message; fuck with my computer or anything that I have spent my hard earned money and tell me what I can't and can do with it; and I won't buy a single DVD or go to a single movie theater; ever. Threaten their cash flow and they will soil their Depends. Remember folks, beat the drums loud enough and others will listen.

If some songs go up in price I won't buy them. That's the laws of supply and demand in action. I'll still use iTunes and continue shopping around seeing where I can get the most (legal) music for my money. Sometimes I'll buy off iTunes but sometimes I'll find a new album on sale at Target or Best Buy that's cheaper than iTunes. Let the music companies charge whatever they want. They can't make me buy anything.

I really see raising prices as a mistake. Aside from illegal downloads, there are just too many ways to find music for cheaper. (i.e half.com, Warehouse Music, Best Buy for new releases, etc...) As the prices get higher and higher, it's going to be harder and harder to overlook the cost for the convenience. I would much rather go down the street to a music store or order a cd online if I can get the music (--and the case, and the booklet ..whether I actually want them or not) for the same price or cheaper.

I think the fair share should be around $0.5 to $0.9 per song. Albums from $0.99 to $2.00. This is what I'm willing to pay. Wait, this is what I actually pay. Economics 101: seller will charge as much as they can, buyers will pay as little as they have to. $0.99 is a real ripoff if you ask me. More is better than insane. Then again, there'll be lotsa suckers to pay.

Burn to CD and then rip? What a waste. Use Audio Hijack; it'll record sound output straight out of iTunes; just convert the outpout file to a format you like, and you're good to go. WAAAY faster and easier than burning to a CD and ripping for fair use. (And unfortunately, for piracy.)

So what happens if you get free songs on iTunes (a la the Pepsi Superbowl promos)? Do you only get to download .99 cent songs? How many of those iTunes gift cards will be purchased over the next 6 weeks for the holidays, sit around for a few months and then reciepients find the rules change because the record companies want more cash? Turns out you can't buy just any song. You're only allowed to get songs that aren't in the top 100 (or whatever the arbitrary cut off is). The record companies are just pissed because they can sell low-quality ring tones (not even full songs) for 3 bucks a piece while at the same time they're contractually obligated to sell the entire song on iTunes for cheaper (even though there's no packaging or distribution costs).

absolutely crazy. Apple don't listen to majors...