View this article at: http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/10/16/itunes.plus.price.drop/

Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007 4:20pm

Apple lowers iTunes Plus pr...

Apple is dropping the price of all its iTunes Plus tracks and expanding its catalog, company chief Steve Jobs confirmed in an interview. Although previously suspected, the new policy will reduce the cost of an individual DRM-free song from $1.29 to 99 cents, putting them at the same price as copy-protected tracks for the first time since iTunes Plus was introduced in May. The move is not expected to change the price of albums, but should take effect across all international iTunes stores no later than tomorrow. Both American and Canadian shoppers have already reported discovering the cut-price tracks in their respective online stores.

Sales of iTunes Plus songs was also set to expand beyond the catalog of major label EMI, Jobs said. Smaller, independent labels have also begun to add unprotected versions of their songs on iTunes and should increase in number over time. Which labels had agreed to make the change were unknown.

The Apple chief did not explain the price drop, though the decision is widely believed to be a competitive step that places Apple back into direct competition with other DRM-free stores such as Amazon MP3 and the Zune MP3 Marketplace. Many of these stores began selling their non-DRM tracks after Apple but started with prices at 99 cents or lower despite the added piracy concerns of easily copied files.

Update: claims about iTunes variable pricing were outdated. We apologize for any potential confusion.