As of Tuesday, April 07, 2009, Apple has raised the prices of some of its iTunes songs. Instead of costing you $0.99 for a song, you might have to cough up $1.29 for your favorite new releases. Apple has raised the price of some popular new releases by 30 cents.

Apple originally announced the 30 cent price during the MacWorld show in January, citing that the price will go up from $0.99 to $1.29 for some of the popular acts already on the mainstream music stage and that the 30 cent price hike would not affect newer, mostly up and coming acts.

Outrage

Addicted music downloaders are going into in to a frenzy over the latest “price jacking” by Apple. They have started seeking out alternative download sites but have run into similarly raised prices at other sites as well. Most other download sites have hopped on the wagon that Apple created; why shouldn’t they? When an industry leader makes a change, especially where financial gains are to be made, other competitive companies are bound to follow suit.

Apple has left many music lovers with withdrawal effects and made them long for sites like Napster again. Companies like Spiralfrog.com and Limewire.com have seen a jump in their recent business due to the iTunes price hike.

On the Wagon

Other mega-companies like Amazon.com are matching the iTunes change, step for step. Amazon has recently raised their prices for certain popular artist song to the now acceptable $1.29.

The Experts Say…

Ted Cohen, former EMI Music executive, is afraid that increased prices will alienate downloaders and put an even bigger strain on struggling music companies. He went on to tell the L.A. Times that “this will be a PR nightmare” and continued with, “It is for the music industry what the AIG bonuses are for the insurance industry.”

While Apple still needs to make money, Cohen, who is now a partner with the digital media firm TAG Strategies, hopes that the increase will not make his statement a prophecy.

Apple did take one step in the right direction by making iTunes accessible via a digital rights management (DRM) free format which eliminates the burn limits and allows iTunes to be played on devices other that Apple’s. However, with the new price hike, some pundits are skeptical and thinking that Apple is giving in one direction and grossly taking in the other.

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