Online Music: And then they ruined it.....

[jkrohn]

Ugh, this is disgusting:
http://www.azcentral.com/business/ar...ding07-ON.html

Some key quotes, read it all though:

For months, digital-music services have been touting albums for $9.99 to entice more people to buy online. But Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store has been charging $16.99 for "Fly or Die," while Roxio Inc.'s Napster service sells the 12-song collection for $13.99. Both prices are higher than the $13.49 that Amazon.com charges for the CD itself. The same pricing shifts are showing up on albums by a growing slate of artists, from Shakira to Bob Dylan.

Unburdened by manufacturing and distribution costs, online music was supposed to usher in a new era of inexpensive, easy-to-access music for consumers. In many cases, buying music online is still cheaper than shopping for CDs at retail outlets. But just a year after iTunes debuted with its 99-cent songs and mostly $9.99 albums, that affordable and straightforward pricing structure is already under pressure.

All five of the major music companies are discussing ways to boost the price of single-song downloads on hot releases - to anywhere from $1.25 to as much as $2.49. Sales of such singles - prices have remained at 99 cents - still account for the majority of online music sales.

The industry is also mulling other ways to charge more for online singles. One option under consideration is bundling hit songs with less-desirable tracks. Another possibility is charging more for a single track if it is available online before the broader release of the entire album from which it is taken. There is also talk of lowering the price on some individual tracks from older albums.

Good to see now that manufacturing and distribution costs are out of the way, they will still keep jacking the price up, and forcing crap music on us.
Is anyone suprised (I for one am not )

Jkrohn

[eagle1]

And what did you really expect?!?
You know this was bound to happen sooner or later.!!

I'll just keep on going to the stores and enjoying the experience of buying the CD!

Who's forcing what? You don't have to download the 'crap.'

Record companies will continue to raise prices. CDs will be $25 by the end of the decade.

Well, maybe not, but it wouldn't surprise me.

[ben-the-slacker]

Doesn't matter, most corporate crap sucks anyway.

[geeraff]

Originally posted by ben-the-slacker
Doesn't matter, most corporate crap sucks anyway.

Word to that.

You'll always be able to trade music with your friends for free. Don't sweat it.

[Solid Snake]

The point of being able to buy singles was to get that "good" song without having to buy the other crap, now they're jacking up the price of singles??? First of all, when you buy music online, you don't get the original 44.1Khz 16-bit uncompressed recording, you don't get the little booklet that comes with the CD or anything like that. You get the song in a compressed format. This alone deserves a discount. I'm surprised anyone buys songs at those prices.