Music Wars: Scene 18
in whch one Nation of the Empire record company says Take Me Down

It seems like one record company, Universal Music Group, has decided to lower prices in order to entice people away from downloading

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Universal Music Group, the world's largest record company, on Wednesday said it will cut list prices on compact discs by as much as 30 percent in an effort to boost sales that have been stymied by free online music-sharing services such as Kazaa.

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"We expect this will invigorate the music market in North America," said Doug Morris, the label's chief executive. "This will allow retailers (to sell) for $10 or less if they so choose."

The price cut comes as the company has endured the enormous popularity of free music sharing services, which the labels blame for music piracy.

Universal, which is owned by Vivendi Universal, sees the price cuts as part of a larger strategy to discourage people from downloading music from the free services.

Hmmm... new release CD's for $9.99? that actually sounds like a pretty good deal. Hopefully the other major labes (Sony, EMI, Time/Warner/AOL) will follow suit. Seems like at least one record label has realized that they were indeed overcharging the consumer for their product, and have been for years, until people realized they could get it for free, albiet not legitimate (but that's one hell of a price adjustment). Myself would buy a new release CD for $9.99, if it were from an artist that I like. Good move by UMG [gives golf applause]. Waiting on the RIAA to play out its war to resolve this problem is a lose-lose proposition for record companies and the consumer, THe labels continue to lose money, and consumers become alienated by having the DeathStar spectre of a lawsuit/subpeona/fines orbiting their head.