Online music shoppers are finally getting a taste of which iTunes tracks will cost $1.29 and how many will be priced at 69 cents under a new pricing plan effective yesterday.
The Los Angeles Times got some insider info last month on the date for the new pricing, and sure enough, today's iTunes store is stocked with songs at varying prices.
But while the $1.29 tracks are easy to find -- occupying six of the store's top 10 list and 45 of the top 100 -- the bargain bin 69 cent tracks are more elusive. Earlier today, Gizmodo was unable to find any while browsing iTunes, but eventually stumbled upon a Timbaland remix of Bubba Sparx and Limp Bizkit. Yikes.
Later, Apple began promoting two "Great Songs at a Great Price" collections specifically bundled at the lower prices. The Rock collection includes an eclectic mixture of 23 tracks, from Elvis Presley to Flock of Seagulls to Rage Against the Machine. The 25-track Classic R&B collection features Earth, Wind & Fire, Luther Vandross and The Supremes, among others.
The collection concept works for getting some popular tracks at a lower price, but I was kind of hoping for a treasure hunt of sorts. It would've been fun to crawl through the iTunes store looking for cheap songs, but it seems that almost everything still costs a buck. To be fair, I did find "Mystery Dance," a minute and a half jingle from Elvis Costello's "My Aim is True" album for 69 cents. Nothing else from his library, though.
The plus-side of this deal is that all iTunes music is now DRM-free and encoded to 256 kbps. Consumers can upgrade their existing DRM-shackled tracks with the click of a couple buttons, but not for free. Individual tracks cost 30 cents a piece, with discounts for entire albums. Thanks, but no thanks.
