Apple Dropping iTunes Plus (DRM Free) Songs to $.99?

MacRumors · 09:40 PM

In May, Apple launched the Digital Rights Management (DRM) free portion of their Music Store called iTunes Plus. The copy-protection free songs sold for $1.29 and were encoded at a higher 256kbps quality AAC.

Earlier today, some users had noticed that certain iTunes Plus songs were now selling for $.99 instead of $1.29. At first it wasn't clear if the pricing discrepancy was simply a mistake.

Ars Technica is now reporting that Apple is in the midst of expanding iTunes Plus to include indie music labels and also dropping the price of all iTunes Plus songs to $.99. Apple will reportedly keep the old DRMed songs at $.99.

The article speculates that the price drop is a reaction to Amazon's DRM MP3 Store which has been very well received. Amazon's MP3 DRM-free store launched 3 weeks ago and provides 256kbps MP3s that can be seamlessly loaded into your existing iTunes library.

Article Link

twoodcc · Oct 15, 2007, 09:33 PM

well i guess a little competition can be a good thing

Grimace · 10:05 PM

I wonder if the law suits will come from this too. The price dropped too soon on my songs I paid $1.29 for!! Give me a refund Steve!! I can hear it now....

Multimedia · Oct 15, 2007, 09:34 PM

Excellent Advancement.

mashinhead · Oct 15, 2007, 09:35 PM

i don't know the iTunes store seems like kind of dead avenue to me. i find that i use it less and less. I think it should actually move to a subscription basis and then it will see more growth. I just get this feeling that both companies and consumers are starting to move away from it. The ipod's still great though.

VanMac · Oct 15, 2007, 09:35 PM

Nice. Now I can update the rest of my purchased songs

NDLaHam · Oct 15, 2007, 09:35 PM

excellent!!

Now just offer the songs in ACC or MP3(for people that don't use player that can't support aac)

Hopefully the other record companies will cave in eventually to this.

Wouldn't it be great if you could download it in as many formats as you want unprotected. FLAC, WAV, MP3, whatever. then you truely own the full quality of the music.

Mistershark · 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grimace

I wonder if the law suits will come from this too. The price dropped too soon on my songs I paid $1.29 for!! Give me a refund Steve!! I can hear it now....

I'm just glad that most iTunes plus albums are already priced at $9.99.

polishmacuser · Oct 15, 2007, 09:41 PM

there updating there site thats what it keeps telling me and my itunes doesnt want to open in windows

but in mac it does

Martin C · Oct 15, 2007, 09:42 PM

I honestly do not understand how someone could select 'negative' for this news story.

wattage · Oct 15, 2007, 09:42 PM

Anyone else find it funny that some people vote this type of news as a 'Negative'!!

What's negative about a price drop??

plumbingandtech · Oct 15, 2007, 09:43 PM

I accidently press neg instead of pos.

I wish I could redo it and make it right.

twoodcc · Oct 15, 2007, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin C

I honestly do not understand how someone could select 'negative' for this news story.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wattage

Anyone else find it funny that some people vote this type of news as a 'Negative'!!

What's negative about a price drop??

i guess they think amazon is gaining on apple?

Martin C · Oct 15, 2007, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twoodcc

i guess they think amazon is gaining on apple?

A lot of the people I have talked to didn't know anything about Amazon's Music Store. They need to do some better web advertising to have a chance at challenging iTunes.

Peace · Oct 15, 2007, 09:47 PM

This is a good step.Now all Apple needs to do is get Warner Bros. and Universal in DRM-Free format.

Nugget · Oct 15, 2007, 09:47 PM

Excellent news!

ghall · Oct 15, 2007, 09:48 PM

If this is true, then iTunes plus is finally worth it to me! Awesome!

p0intblank · Oct 15, 2007, 09:48 PM

This would be awesome if true! Competition is always a good thing.

saxman · Oct 15, 2007, 09:51 PM

Yeah for competition.

I wonder if they'll give me a credit for $0.145 per iTunes+ song I purchased since May (-;

CommodityFetish · Oct 15, 2007, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macrumors

Apple is in the midst of expanding iTunes Plus to include indie music labels and also dropping the price of all iTunes Plus songs to $.99.

Finally! Give the indies some respect!

Amazon.com, I salute you. It's so nice when the consumer benefits from a competitive market.

Telp · 10:09 PM

This is great news!

Martin C · Oct 15, 2007, 09:53 PM

They need to get some more record labels on to these DRM-Free songs.

nemaslov · Oct 15, 2007, 09:54 PM

GET ALL THOSE INDIE LABELS DRM FREE NOW!! YEAH!!!

zwida · Oct 15, 2007, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin C

They need to get some more record labels on to these DRM-Free songs.

Yeah, that'd be nice. I think it's going to be awhile before any of the other majors sign on to this project, though.

elppa · Oct 15, 2007, 09:55 PM

I'm waiting for the first person to ask for the $0.30 cashback for every song they upgraded.

Any moment now…

Oct 15, 2007, 09:30 PM	#1
MacRumors macrumors bot Join Date: Apr 2001	Apple Dropping iTunes Plus (DRM Free) Songs to $.99? In May, Apple launched the Digital Rights Management (DRM) free portion of their Music Store called iTunes Plus. The copy-protection free songs sold for $1.29 and were encoded at a higher 256kbps quality AAC. Earlier today, some users had noticed that certain iTunes Plus songs were now selling for $.99 instead of $1.29. At first it wasn't clear if the pricing discrepancy was simply a mistake. Ars Technica is now reporting that Apple is in the midst of expanding iTunes Plus to include indie music labels and also dropping the price of all iTunes Plus songs to $.99. Apple will reportedly keep the old DRMed songs at $.99. The article speculates that the price drop is a reaction to Amazon's DRM MP3 Store which has been very well received. Amazon's MP3 DRM-free store launched 3 weeks ago and provides 256kbps MP3s that can be seamlessly loaded into your existing iTunes library. Article Link Last edited by arn : Oct 15, 2007 at 09:40 PM.

Oct 15, 2007, 09:33 PM	#2
twoodcc macrumors 603 Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Right side of wrong	well i guess a little competition can be a good thing __________________ tville pump Smarter than the average bear

Oct 15, 2007, 09:33 PM	#3
Grimace Contributor Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: with Hamburglar.	I wonder if the law suits will come from this too. The price dropped too soon on my songs I paid $1.29 for!! Give me a refund Steve!! I can hear it now.... __________________ Canon 1Ds Mk III • Canon 5D MkII 16-35mm f/2.8L II • 24-70mm f/2.8L • 70-200mm f/2.8L IS 50mm f/1.2L • 85mm f/1.2L • 135mm f/2L • 300mm f/2.8L IS Last edited by Doctor Q : Oct 15, 2007 at 10:05 PM. Reason: removed quote of deleted post

Oct 15, 2007, 09:34 PM	#4
Multimedia Banned Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Santa Cruz CA, Silicon Beach	Step In The Right Direction Excellent Advancement.

Oct 15, 2007, 09:35 PM	#6
VanMac macrumors 6502a Join Date: May 2005 Location: Rampaging Tokyo	Nice. Now I can update the rest of my purchased songs __________________ Broken Arrow Ranch Chervic Technologies Inc. 17" MBP 2.6GHz C2D HDef 200GB_7200 2GB RAM 80GB iPod Classic Broken Arrow Ranch

Oct 15, 2007, 09:35 PM	#5
mashinhead macrumors 68000 Join Date: Oct 2003	i don't know the iTunes store seems like kind of dead avenue to me. i find that i use it less and less. I think it should actually move to a subscription basis and then it will see more growth. I just get this feeling that both companies and consumers are starting to move away from it. The ipod's still great though.

Oct 15, 2007, 09:35 PM	#7
NDLaHam macrumors newbie Join Date: May 2007 Location: Madison, WI	excellent!! Now just offer the songs in ACC or MP3(for people that don't use player that can't support aac) Hopefully the other record companies will cave in eventually to this. Wouldn't it be great if you could download it in as many formats as you want unprotected. FLAC, WAV, MP3, whatever. then you truely own the full quality of the music. __________________ Live Strong, Die Hard.

Oct 15, 2007, 09:41 PM	#9
polishmacuser macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2007	there updating there site thats what it keeps telling me and my itunes doesnt want to open in windows but in mac it does __________________ Mac Is Life Live It Blackbook v.2.1 2gb ram Snow Leopard 2ng gen ipod touch samsung blackajack 2 ...I'm coming back to you iPhone I promise and 1 windoze box

Oct 15, 2007, 09:42 PM	#10
Martin C macrumors 6502a Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: New York City	I honestly do not understand how someone could select 'negative' for this news story. __________________ flickr

Oct 15, 2007, 09:42 PM	#11
wattage macrumors 6502 Join Date: Oct 2005	Anyone else find it funny that some people vote this type of news as a 'Negative'!! What's negative about a price drop?? __________________ "That's my purse! I don't know you!" (kick to the groin) Bobby Hill

Oct 15, 2007, 09:43 PM	#12
plumbingandtech macrumors 68000 Join Date: Jun 2007	I accidently press neg instead of pos. I wish I could redo it and make it right.

Oct 15, 2007, 09:47 PM	#15
Peace macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: On top of the Storm Peaks waiting for the Time-Lost Proto Drake	This is a good step.Now all Apple needs to do is get Warner Bros. and Universal in DRM-Free format.

Oct 15, 2007, 09:47 PM	#16
Nugget macrumors 6502a Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Houston Texas USA	Excellent news! __________________ Everyone needs a 30" Cinema Display. Here's why.

Oct 15, 2007, 09:48 PM	#17
ghall macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Rhode Island	If this is true, then iTunes plus is finally worth it to me! Awesome! __________________ Blog \| Twitter \| Facebook \| Flickr

Oct 15, 2007, 09:48 PM	#18
p0intblank macrumors 68020 Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: New Jersey, USA	This would be awesome if true! Competition is always a good thing.

Oct 15, 2007, 09:51 PM	#19
saxman macrumors 6502 Join Date: May 2004	Yeah for competition. I wonder if they'll give me a credit for $0.145 per iTunes+ song I purchased since May (-;

Oct 15, 2007, 09:53 PM	#21
Telp macrumors 68030 Join Date: Feb 2007	This is great news! __________________ Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. -Steve Jobs Last edited by Doctor Q : Oct 15, 2007 at 10:09 PM. Reason: removed quote of deleted post

Oct 15, 2007, 09:54 PM	#23
nemaslov macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: San Francisco	GET ALL THOSE INDIE LABELS DRM FREE NOW!! YEAH!!! __________________ Agent man

Oct 15, 2007, 09:55 PM	#25
elppa macrumors 68020 Join Date: Nov 2003	I'm waiting for the first person to ask for the $0.30 cashback for every song they upgraded. Any moment now… __________________ Snow Leopard is animated

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