I would absolutely love it if Apple could explain their pricing to me. Just downloaded a song (Aloe Blacc’s “I Need A Dollar” if you’re interested). I had a choice of the album version at 4:03 for $2.19 or the “Radio Edit” – 2 seconds longer but only $1.19. Confuzzlement ahoy.
There’s also the small matter of disparity between countries. The US iTunes store has Adele’s 21 for $US10.99 (approximately $AU10.48) and $US1.29 per track (approx. $1.20) whereas in Australia we have to pay $AU16.99 for the album and $2.19 per song. With (as demonstrated) the Australian dollar so much stronger than the US & a number of other currencies, online retailers like Apple really need to address their pricing.
As a whiny woman from Ipswich once said, “Please explain?”
The difference in price was fair enough at the time iTunes opened in Australia but with the exchange rate the way it is today, $2.19 per track is ridiculous. Once again, Apple gets away with the kind of behaviour that Microsoft would be rightly pilloried for because… well, they’re Apple.
Oh, and despite cutting out several middle-men between artist and consumer, their royalty rates are a pittance – even less than record companies.