Better get started on that download of the new Kelly Clarkson single now.
According to a report from the L.A. Times, iTunes will officially implement its variable pricing system starting on April 7. The digital download store will be splitting its prices into a three-tier system: 69 cents, 99 cents, and $1.29 for “classics” and “hits.”
Yet arguably the more important change to be implemented is the removal of software restrictions previously encoded in their downloaded music:
In exchange for flexible prices, the digital tracks will be offered free of anti-piracy software, enabling the buyer to make unlimited copies and play the songs on any device, which is not currently possible.
Perhaps as a reaction to its main DRM-free competitor, Amazon, iTunes may have just opened its doors to an entirely new host of consumers insistent upon restriction-free play.
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While I’m pleased to hear that many back catalog albums may be getting the 69 cent treatment, the “hits” bit of the $1.29 price point worries me–I’m wondering just how many “hits” will be considered for the price hike? Will it be only older classics, as the example given with Bruce Springsteen‘s “Born In The USA”?
It’s such an entirely subjective notion in itself–I’m nervous that a large majority of the system could be hit soon.