Music Pricing

MP3tunes Launches Oboe Free Online Locker for 1,000 Songs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 24, 2006 - 6:48pm.

San Diego - MP3tunes, a provider of online digital music services, on Thursday launched Oboe Free, a free online locker service that offers personal storage for up to 1,000 songs.

eMusic Launches Digital Music Service in the U.K.

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 15, 2006 - 12:23pm.

New York - Digital music service eMusic announced that it has launched its subscription service in the U.K., offering a library of 1 million songs from mainly independent artists in the unprotected MP3 audio format.

Universal Introduces Three Tiers of Packaging, Pricing for CD Albums

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 7, 2006 - 1:09pm.

London - Major record label Universal Music Group announced this week that it will begin distributing three different versions of new CDs in Europe, with prices that increase based on added packaging and content.

Tap It Fame Offers Artists $9.95-per-Month Online Music Stores

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 7, 2006 - 12:54pm.

Los Angeles - Tap It Fame this week announced the launch of its site that lets artists pay a monthly subscription fee and set their own prices for selling their songs online.

MusicGremlin Introduces PC-Free Portable Digital Music Player

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 14, 2006 - 1:47pm.

New York - MusicGremlin on Wednesday announced the availability of its wireless digital audio player for purchase from Amazon.com and its own website.

Billboard: "In Digital Pricing Wars, Music's Value Open to Debate"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 5, 2006 - 1:13pm.

New York - Billboard magazine recently published an article on the future of digital music pricing, examining how the industry arrived at the current 99-cent price point for digital songs.

Cingular, Warner Music Launch Personalized Ringback Tones

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 1, 2006 - 1:46pm.

Atlanta - Cingular Wireless on Thursday launched "Say My Name," a ringback tone promotion that features Warner Music Group artists in audio greeting clips that include many popular names for personalization.

Fortuna Introduces $5,000 Component MP3 Player for Classical Music

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 25, 2006 - 5:29am.

San Diego - Fortuna Classical Music, a firm that says its focus is the technological and social advancement of classical music, on Thursday introduced a component MP3 player designed especially for playing classical music.

Report: Mobile Music Service Pricing Big Barrier to Consumer Adoption

Authored by dmw on May 19, 2006 - 7:49am.

Boston - Consumers believe mobile music services offered by wireless network operators like Sprint and Verizon are overpriced by up to 85%, according to a survey conducted by market research firm Strategy Analytics. "Our research suggests that users are willing to pay a premium of around 35 percent for the convenience of downloading tracks to both their wireless devices and PCs -- subject to reliable network performance," said Strategy Analytics' Kevin Dolan. "In our view, the current 100 to 150 percent premiums charged by the main operators make adoption of these services highly unlikely." Between the Sprint Mobile Music Store and Verizon Wireless' V CAST Music service, 21% of consumers favored Sprint's offering, citing "perceived network performance" and "ease of use." "Strategy Analytics has identified significant levels of consumer interest in mobile music services, and the current services -- especially Sprint Music Store -- meet or exceed user expectations in terms of performance and convenience," said analyst Paul Brown. "However, price remains a considerable barrier to acceptance."

MTV Launches Urge Digital Music Service

Authored by dmw on May 17, 2006 - 4:01pm.

New York - MTV on Wednesday launched a public beta test and two-week free trial of its Microsoft-powered Urge digital music service. Featuring 2 million tracks licensed from MusicNet, Urge offers 99 cent a la carte downloads, a $9.95 streaming subscription plan, and a $14.95 subscription that allows unlimited downloads to compatible devices. Other features of the service include 130 streaming radio stations; "super playlists", which contain hundreds of songs in a given genre; "feeds", where users can sign up for updated playlists in certain genres and sync them to portable players; and "auto mixes", or automatically generated playlists built around specific artists or music styles selected by users.

MTV to Launch Own "Urge" Digital Music Store This Week

Authored by dmw on May 15, 2006 - 1:47pm.

New York - MTV Networks plans to launch its own Microsoft-powered digital music download service, Urge, on Wednesday in a public beta test. The service will initially offer over 2 million tracks for 99 cents each or $9.95 per album, as well as a $14.95 per month subscription service that allows unlimited transfer of songs to portable players compatible with Microsoft Windows Media Audio -- excluding the iPod. The Urge service will be tightly integrated into Microsoft's new Windows Media Player 11. In addition to album tracks, Urge will also sell recordings of performances from MTV programs like "TRL" and "MTV Unplugged". Also available on Urge will be 130 streaming radio channels, streaming music videos, and in the future, downloadable videos for sale. "Only 5 percent of music sales happen digitally," MTV Networks Music Group president Van Toffler told the Associated Press. "Hopefully, through the TV channels we have and the dot-com sites ... we can educate people about the virtues of subscriptions. It's not about selling a million singles."

Report: Rogue Russian Download Store More Popular than Napster in U.K.

Authored by dmw on May 15, 2006 - 1:41pm.

London - A Russian website that offers digital song downloads at a fraction of the price of iTunes and Napster has become the second most-popular commercial download service in the U.K., according to a report from XTN Data. Apple's iTunes commanded the largest share of the U.K. paid download market in September 2005, with 44%, followed by Moscow-based AllofMP3.com with 14%; Napster's U.K. service followed in third place. While iTunes and Napster sell songs for 99 cents, the Russian site offers them for about 10 cents each. "It offers cheap downloads, is easy to use and has no restrictions on where people can play the tracks. This is what music fans are asking for so perhaps AllOfMP3's popularity isn't that surprising," said XTN Data founder Greig Harper. The Russian site claims that Russian copyright law allows it to legally sell tracks in foreign countries at the reduced prices it offers. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) made a formal complaint about the site to Russian authorities last year, but prosecutors there eventually dropped their case against the site.

Warner Music Discloses Class Action Lawsuits Over Digital Price-Fixing

Authored by dmw on May 8, 2006 - 7:03pm.

New York - Warner Music Group has disclosed in an SEC filing that 14 class action lawsuits have been filed against the company, over alleged price-fixing of digital song downloads amongst the major labels. Warner Music said in the filing that it "intends to defend against these lawsuits vigorously." Several months ago, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer launched a separate probe into alleged digital music price-fixing. For its most recent quarter, Warner Music said digital music sales totaled $90 million -- nearly three times higher than the same period a year ago -- and represented 11% of total revenue.

MP3tunes Launches Oboe Free Online Locker for 1,000 Songs

eMusic Launches Digital Music Service in the U.K.

Universal Introduces Three Tiers of Packaging, Pricing for CD Albums

Tap It Fame Offers Artists $9.95-per-Month Online Music Stores

MusicGremlin Introduces PC-Free Portable Digital Music Player

Billboard: "In Digital Pricing Wars, Music's Value Open to Debate"

Cingular, Warner Music Launch Personalized Ringback Tones

Fortuna Introduces $5,000 Component MP3 Player for Classical Music

Report: Mobile Music Service Pricing Big Barrier to Consumer Adoption

MTV Launches Urge Digital Music Service

MTV to Launch Own "Urge" Digital Music Store This Week

Report: Rogue Russian Download Store More Popular than Napster in U.K.

Warner Music Discloses Class Action Lawsuits Over Digital Price-Fixing

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