Listen.com cuts its price per song download to 49 cents:

Listen.com of San Francisco may have the songs, the technology and the distributors for a successful online music service, but it's still missing a key ingredient: the customers.

While millions of consumers are downloading songs for free from unauthorized services, Listen and its label-sanctioned competitors have managed to attract only a fraction of that audience.

To boost those numbers, Listen.com is set to announce today that it is temporarily slashing the price of owning songs to an industry low of 49 cents per track. That's 50% less than what Listen charged previously for downloadable songs and far below what its competitors still charge.

Listen's six-week experiment is a sign of things to come. Although several online music ventures have amassed the licenses and technology to offer a comprehensive service, all are still searching for a way to lure the masses.

That's why Listen is dabbling with deep price cuts for its Rhapsody service, even when it means selling music below cost, as the company says it's doing. Other innovations to come from online services include programming tailored to individual users' tastes, novel approaches to searching for songs online and lower prices for older material.... [LA Times]