As announced at Macworld ’09, the iTunes Store music catalog has gone completely DRM free. There’s iTunes Plus buttons everywhere! Apple signed the deal with the devil(s) and in exchange for DRM-free, we have a new variable pricing scheme. The three price points for songs are now $1.29 for a new song, $0.99 for a regular track, and $0.69 for those tracks old stuff that doesn’t sell much.

I did make it a point to go through the store, but generally speaking, nothing much has changed. Most tracks still sell for $0.99, with a select few going up at $1.29. Finding $0.69 tracks is even more difficult (although Apple has displayed special blocks to help you find some cheap tracks). If I could make a wild guesstimate, 95% of the tracks are still at $0.99, 4% have gone to $1.29, with a select few at $0.69. I was surprised to find however, that it’s not just new tracks which get the special treatment. The label are picking out any popular track out of the catalog and charging $1.29 for it. Weezer’s “Island in the sun” is a pretty old track, yet it costs $1.29.

Many consider this the doom of the iTunes Store, but it’s not that bad. The pricing is not automatically set to a higher price point for newer tracks. If the record label thinks their song is worth the extra quarter, it gets that special pricing. Generally speaking, singles are much more prone to the special pricing than those that belong to an album. I saw many of the top songs as well as brand new albums with the same $0.99 pricing. 

It is likely that the labels weren’t ready for this change, and will look into their pricing structure in the near future. Only time and an Apple shareholder’s meeting will tell how well this has worked for everyone.

The case of disappearing songs

A side effect of this transition seems to be certain songs disappearing from the iTunes catalog. Several people are noticing a reduction in the number of fairplay tracks elligible for the iTunes Plus upgrade, as well as some not appearing in the search anymore. Neil Young’s “Bridge of School Collection” is one album which has mysteriously made an exit from iTunes.

This could either be those tracks not being converted in time, or that they didn’t agree to the new terms and conditions.

[via AppleInsider]