iTunes cut: Will labels be casualties of music price war?
With a one-two punch, Apple is in the process of lowering the price of its iTunes Plus DRM (digital rights management)-free music songs from US$1.29 to 99 cents while at the same time adding 2 million songs to its iTunes Plus library. The additional songs, which come from music mega-label EMI - along with a good many from independent labels - will give Apple the largest DRM-free catalogue in the world, the company said.
However, Amazon.com, a newcomer on the scene of digital music sales also says it has about 2 million DRM-free songs online, so the battle over the biggest DRM-free catalogue may be a never-ending fight. Either way, Amazon's MP3 music library also includes songs from EMI - as well as from Universal Music Group, which is not currently letting Apple sell its songs free of Apple's FairPlay DRM system.
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