But he warned: "Music has been pretty devalued already. Paul Scaife, managing director of the music industry newsletter Record of the Day, said more competition was good news for digital music consumers, and variable pricing was welcomed by labels who have long lobbied for songs to be priced according to fans' perceived value. The question is not who can beat iTunes but who can take the industry on from what iTunes have achieved," he said. Variable and aggressive pricing is one weapon in their armoury, but it's only part of the battle. "Companies have to find ways of selling to people who don't want to pay. He added that the real challenge for digital online services such as Amazon and Apple would be to convert traditional music buyers to digital while finding new ways to bridge the gulf between physical and digital music revenue. Even if they are cheaper it will take time to change people's habits and it is still that bit more inconvenient." "If Amazon are going to compete they are going to have to throw everything at iTunes or they just won't make a dent. "Until this point Amazon have been something of a sleeping giant, we are now seeing some real grandstanding," he said.īut despite the online retailer's marketing offensive, the Apple crown was unlikely to be toppled any time soon.
Music industry analyst Mark Mulligan, vice-president of Forrester Research, said Amazon's actions were the first serious threat to Apple's dominance of the music download market. The news comes as Apple - which is estimated to control upwards of 70% of the legal downloading market - announced some of its hit tracks would increase in price, while other back catalogue songs would be reduced, as part of the company's introduction of variable pricing.Ī spokesman confirmed that songs would now be available at the iTunes store at 59p, 79p and 99p but refused to fuel speculation about an MP3 price war, saying the company did not comment on competitors or future pricing strategy. Amazon, which also offers albums for as little as £3 said the reductions were being made indefinitely.
On the bargain list, which spans pop, hip-hop, rock, classical and jazz, music fans can also find older tracks such as Oasis's Wonderwall, the Dambusters March played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World for up to 70p less than on Apple's iTunes.
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