Beginning of the End for the iTunes Store?
It’s finally happened. The price hikes for popular songs announced in January have finally come to fruition in the iTunes Store.
The price for popular songs has raised by quite a bit. In the US, these songs are now priced at $1.29. Here in Australia, our music has broken the two dollar barrier to now have jumped up to $2.19 per song. At the moment, the price changes are affecting 33 of the top 100 songs in the iTunes US Store but there is no word as to how many other songs will get the increase.
This is a terrible blow to Apple who have had dominance in the music distribution market, being the number one music seller in every country that has the online store. It’s blatantly obvious that the big four music labels don’t like this monopoly at all and want to slowly strangle iTunes to dilute its market share in favor of newer stores like the Amazon MP3 Store.
But in the end, this is a blow to the music labels. People like the iTunes Store because it is quick, easy and seamless. iTunes (and in turn the record labels) relies on impulse purchases from people like me who just want to hear Kelly Clarkson now and not in five minutes time. The general population won’t like the idea of having to go further out of their way to buy music. Making them navigate through the ugly as hell Amazon Store won’t sit well. In my opinion, buying music from Amazon is just as easy as downloading a torrent and getting music that way. Which do you think people will opt for? Less expensive music or free music?
But this idea of the labels wanting to move power to Amazon is only applicable in a select group of countries who actually have the store, not in the other 20 countries with iTunes Stores. Those countries, including Australia, have no viable competition or alternative to iTunes. With such a price hike definitely turning me away from buying popular songs on iTunes, I am left with no where else on the internet to buy music. And like I’m going to buy a CD in the 21st century! What does this mean for the music labels? It means I just won’t buy those songs at all. For some people, it will drive them to piracy. Either way, if they’re not happy with my original $1.69 they will just have to live without my money period.
The labels are shooting themselves in the foot by pushing these prices changes into other countries outside the US. The vast majority of people will just not pay for music that is so expensive. Full stop. Simple as that.
If you want to play that it that way EMI, Warner, Sony BMG and Universal, people will fight back with the most powerful tool they have against you: their wallets.
