Apple in row over iTunes prices
A battle has broken out between one of the world’s leading record companies and Apple, producer of the popular iPod music player.
Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr has hit back after Apple boss Steve Jobs branded record labels “greedy” earlier this month.
The row is the result of Apple’s pricing policy with firms angry that singles, sold through the company’s iTunes downloading site, go for just 79p (€1.15) and albums £7.99 (€11.72).
Executives have called for a price hike, and at a New York conference Mr Bronfman Jr described Apple’s policy as “unfair”.
He added: “Not all songs are created equal. We want, and will insist upon having, variable pricing.
“To have only one price point is not fair to our artists, and I dare say not appropriate to consumers. The market should decide, not a single retailer.
“I do not think that a single retailer should simply dictate that there are two price points and two price points only. Whether artists like it, whether record companies or publishers like it, or whether consumers like it.”
If the war of words escalates, Warner Music could stop its artists, including Madonna and Eric Clapton, being available for download from iTunes.
Mr Bronfman Jr believes his company’s songs are being used to boost sales of the iPod, yet they are not reaping the rewards.
“We are selling our songs through iPod, but we don’t have a share of iPod’s revenue,” he said. “We want to share in those revenue streams.”
Apple’s iPod music player, which can now store up to 15,000 songs, has fast become the must-have accessory in the UK and Ireland. Thanks to its popularity, the traditional method of buying an album on CD from a high street store is becoming a thing of the past.
Mr Bronfman’s comments come after Steve Jobs said at a Paris press conference: “If they want to raise the prices, it means that they are getting greedy.
“If the price goes up, they (consumers) will go back to piracy and everybody loses.”
