Buying and downloading music online are cheap these days, by any standard. Now, they just got cheaper yet again with Amazon.com slashing the cost of hit MP3 downloads by a further 20 cents.
Amazon announced that it would now be offering some of its MP3s at only 69c per download. This move is in a bid to wrestle away some business from Apple, who currently dominates the market with its iTunes store.
According to a recent report by the LA Times, Amazon’s share in this market has been around 10% the last two years, while Apple held an astonishing 70% share.
Russ Crupnick, a digital music analyst at the NPD Group had an interesting take on Amazon’s new move. He said in a statement that the question is not whether you can sell a 69-cent track, it is whether you can get a customer to spend $69.
It will indeed be interesting to see whether Amazon will be in a position to increase its market-share with its 69c tracks, and whether the new move will increase business for the online retailer.
