Shock! Disbelief! Week 4: Big Music Price Hike STILL Makes Tunes Less Popular!

We posted last month about how initial reports showed the then new $1.29 price point Big Music had convinced iTunes, Amazon, and other digital music retailers to adopt had caused pricier tunes to fall down the charts, how do things look now, some 4 weeks later?

The same if not worse-ish, according to the Register:

Billboard notes that after four weeks, both $1.29 and $0.99 songs have, as expected, experienced a decline in revenue, down 34.5 per cent and 29 per cent. But since $1.29 songs have a higher margin, the hike has raised more income than if the price had remained at 99 cents. How much? Billboard reckons $14,000 a week net. DMN confirms the trend but wonders if the net effect isn't negative overall.

Has the long-tail truly come off the online music business? Will the record labels continue to try and squeeze more and more out of the bestselling hits? Do we care? I know I barely thought twice about hitting the buy-button on $0.99 DRM-free, 256-bit iTunes music. At $1.29, however, psychological barrier or not, I think more than twice.

Maybe Steve Jobs was right?

Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.