Why Steve Jobs And Variable Pricing For Download Singles Won’t Mix

An Apple a day … The download pricing story isn’t going awayh anytime soon, whicbh is I’m glad to see Arik Hesseldahl take the time to lay out the details. Too many people are writing with a focus entirely on the idea of higher prices, ignoring Warner CEO Edgar Bronfman’s comments about also wanting to price some songs higher. In Bronfman’s world, not all songs are created equal and he wants to price them the same way. Meanwhile, Apple and Steve Jobs are fixated on the eaier-to-market single price for single downloads to the point where at least twice iTunes has run into problems in the UK over higher-priced charity singles.
As Arik notes, iTunes already prices albums variably so singles shouldn’t be much of an issue. Ipsos/Insight vp Matt Kleinschmit says most consumers see little difference between $0.99 and $1.29. But Jobs insists that boosting prices will encourage piracy — so far as I can tell, the real schism is between people willing to pay something for downloads and people who aren’t under any circumstance. Within the group willing to pay, we’re back to the idea that small price shifts up won’t keep most from buying.
That doesn’t really matter here, though, in light of the one overriding fact: As long as iPods rule the MP3 market, Jobs will be setting the prices.

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