EMI pushes for varied pricing for digital downloads |
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Fri, 18 Nov 2005 20:05
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LONDON: Music major EMI Group is pushing hard for a substantial increase in the price of digital downloading both in the U.S. and the U.K.
EMI Music chairman Alain Levy hoped that Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, would introduce multiple price points for iTunes music within the next year. EMI, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group, have been suggesting that Apple introduce a tiered pricing system, distinguishing older songs from new and more popular songs, which are in higher demand. The digital download stores would then be following the high street stores where tracks are discounted to boost sales and increased for more popular albums.
EMI's revenue from digital sales constituted 4.9 per cent of the company's sales in the last six months, up from 2.1 per cent a year ago.
Apple, which sells more than 1.8 million songs a day on iTunes and has 85 per cent of the global music market in legal downloads, did not react to the suggestions. It charges a flat 99 pence for a single song in the U.K., 99 cents in the U.S. and 0.99 euro in Europe.
EMI said it disagrees with iTunes' flat-rate pricing policy for single songs.
"First of all we would like to reduce pricing on new and developing artists and charge a premium for our superstars," said Levy.
He disclosed that there is a common understanding between Apple Computer and EMI Music, that a shift to variable pricing is inevitable.
Jobs has contended that "a buck a song" is an easy-to-understand proposition and a victory of sorts for the music business. He had earlier described the music industry "greedy", for demanding a variable rate of music downloads from Apple's iTunes store.
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