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iTunes DRM-Free Tracks Now Same Price As DRM Tracks
jawtheshark writes "Apple has made the decision to revise the pricing of Plus songs on the iTunes Music store. Whereas previously the DRM-less tracks were more expensive than the 'normal' option (at $1.29 vs. $0.99), DRM-less tracks bought via ITMS will now be priced on the same level as DRM'd tracks. 'Apple plans to expand iTunes Plus to include certain indie music labels starting Wednesday, October 17 (or sometime this week, at least) ... This expansion won't include all independent music labels just yet, although we're optimistic that more will be included in the future. While we have no information on whether the iTunes Plus songs are selling well, we assume that the decision to drop the price is a response to the Amazon MP3 store. Amazon sells individual tracks for between 89 and 99 apiece, all without any DRM restrictions. With that in mind, it's kind of hard for Apple to compete at $1.29.'"
Well, you are a bit more tech savvy than the average users, given you are on slashdot. I think a more realistic scenario will be people check Amazon out of interest, but the 10th time out of 11 they don't find what they are looking for, they just go back to iTunes, where they know they will find it 9 times out of 10. It is hard to argue against the seemless integration of, say, an iMac with iTunes and an iPod/iPhone, even if you can't stand the concept. The average person that walks into an Apple store for the first time is hard pressed not to be impressed with this model. In contrast (and for fun) go to a Sony store that tries to emulate the Apple Stores and ask them to demo the seemless integration of the Sony mp3 player, music store and Viaio (sp?) laptop. It really is funny to watch the poor salesperson struggle through it, in a schadenfreude kind of way.