Simple clear advice in plain English

Amazon slashes music download prices

But analysts say this won't be enough to attract iTunes users

  • Andrea-Marie Petrou
  • News
  • Web
  • 07/04/2009
Eminem
computing/computing-13-12-07/eminem

Amazon has reduced the price of many of its bestselling music download singles.

The online shop is now selling more than 100 tracks, including recent hits from Lady GaGa, the Prodigy and Lily Allen, for 29p instead of the 59p it previously charged.

It has also said it will sell selected pop, rock, classical, jazz and hip-hop albums for as little as £3.

Julian Monaghan, head of music buying at Amazon, said the reductions were being made indefinitely.

"Since our launch, just four months ago, we have been presenting our customers with some great deals on MP3s while rapidly expanding our catalogue and we will continue to do so," he said.

Meanwhile Apple is expected to raise the prices of some of its bestselling download singles from 79p to 99p. However, some back catalogue tracks will be reduced to 59p.

Apple would not say exactly when these changes would come into effect, but a representative told us it would be "sometime in April".

Analysts have said that despite these changes, people may still stick to iTunes.

Mark Mulligan, an analyst at Forester Research, said: "Amazon has introduced the retailing mentality to music downloading, something that other companies have failed to do.

"However, some iPod users will continue to choose to use iTunes because it is easy to connect their devices to.

"The music download pricing war started a long time ago but today sees a new way of music pricing."

Article tags

Reader Comments

   

Add your comment

All fields must be completed. Your email address will not be displayed or used to send marketing messages.

All messages will be checked by moderators before appearing on the site.

See our Privacy Policy for more information.

Related articles

Spotify and 7Digital join forces

Spotify users can now click through to the 7Digital website to buy songs

Microsoft adds music download service to its mobile website

Music, videos and ringtones can be downloaded from the site straight onto a mobile phone

Amazon selling MP3 music on UK site

Download service launched quietly this morning with some albums on sale for £3

Question & Answer

Q.Why are some of the keys on my keyboard doing strange...

> Read the answer

Q.Is my phone’s Bluetooth any use?

> Read the answer

Q.Can I switch boot drives so that I can work on older...

> Read the answer

Best deals on the web

img

Apple iMac 21.5" (MC309)

£926.40- Buy it now

img

Dell Inspiron 620 ST Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz / 3GB / 500GB / DVDRW / Win 7 Home Premium

£329.00- Buy it now

img

ZooStorm 7877-1023

£386.38- Buy it now

Latest issue & subscription deals

Poll

Are you concerned about viruses that target mobile phones?

Jargon Buster

Computing terms explained in plain English

CAD

Computer Aided Design. Software used to create 3D models.

Great shopping deals from Computeractive