Updates to the iTunes Store

Apple has finally relented to the demands of the music industry to offer variable pricing on songs available through the iTunes Store. Apple has added two new pricing tiers at $0.69 and $1.29 in addition to the old and still current $0.99 price level. It remains to be seen whether the variable pricing will be a benefit to the customer or not. That all depends on how the record labels decide to price their songs when this change comes in April.

Apparently, as a part of this bargain, Apple was able to convince three of the four major labels (Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group) to join EMI and indie labels in offering their music without copy protection (DRM) and with higher sound quality – otherwise known as iTunes Plus. Starting today, 8 million songs will be available in the iTunes Plus format. By the end of this quarter, Apple expects to have all 10 million songs available in iTunes Plus. Steve Jobs’ Thoughts on Music finally bears all of its fruit.

Another benefit for the customer that Apple was able to negotiate is that you can now buy music on the iPhone over cellular networks. You used to have to find a Wi-Fi network to connect to if you felt the need to buy songs from your iPhone, but not now!