iTunes Prices To Remain Unchanged... For Now

The big dog in the digital music revolution has announced that it's reached distribution agreements with record labels that will retain current song pricing.

"The recording industry and Apple had been at odds over Apple's insistence to keep its flat rate with some labels wanting variable pricing, including higher prices for new releases.

The distribution contracts were up for renewal for the first time since iTunes launched in April 2003. Apple said Tuesday it would continue to offer the 99-cent pricing from a library of over 3 million songs, but declined further comment.

ITunes helped propel the legitimate music download business, and Apple claims it has about an 80 percent share of the market, which last year climbed to 353 million song downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Analysts say recording labels make about 70 cents per download but could pocket significantly more if the prices were raised by a few cents.

None of the negotiating parties would say how long the new deals will last, but Schadler suspected the record labels insisted on shorter-term contracts."