Apple on Tuesday changed its trademark standard of charging 99 cents per song at online shop iTunes in a deal with recording studios that strips anti-piracy software from digital downloads.
Songs sell for 69 cents, 99 cents or 1.29 dollars with studios deciding pricing.
Music studios have long lobbied
Apple to charge more for songs at iTunes.
The California maker of iPods, iPhones and Macintosh computers had steadfastly maintained a 99-cents-per-song price structure at iTunes since it launched the online music and movie shop in 2001.
Apple evidently made the pricing concession in exchange for studios backing off demands for digital rights management (
DRM) software that prevents music from being copied.
Apple vice president of worldwide marketing
Phil Schiller heralded the change in January at a
Macworld Expo in
San Francisco, promising that all songs in the iTunes library would be available DRM-free by this month.
