The price of digital music could be in flux. Warner Music Group plans to run a test starting this month that will alter the price of certain songs on a number of unspecified online music stores to reflect demand.
Like an artificially intelligent version of Amie Street, Warner's partner on the project Digonex "gathers sales data in real-time, analyzes purchasing behavior, and sets new prices that hit the 'sweet spot' where consumer demand and market potential meet." Nettwerk Records experimented with the same system last year, charging 33, 66, or 99 cents for singles, and between $3.30 and $10 for albums. . .
In some cases, the system will charge more for recently-released popular recordings, as indicated by the company's chart (above). However, according to Billboard, popular stuff could sometimes end up costing less: "In some cases, the company recommends lowering the price on a hot-selling album in order to spike even more sales and increase overall volume." (Full Story at wired)
I like the idea. I've never challenged the idea of a fixed price for music, but this makes sense to me. What do you think?
|