For a Song: The Price War Begins

Listen.com reduces online song price to $.79:

Listen.com, which offers Internet radio broadcasts and other programming for $9.95 a month, is lowering the price for burning digital music onto compact discs to 79 cents per song, the company said Wednesday.

The move comes just one month after Apple Computer Inc. launched an online music store, in which Macintosh users can download a song for 99 cents with few restrictions – and no monthly subscription fee.

….”We’re starting to see the business model experiments,” said Michael McGuire, an analyst with Gartner G2.

….The company decided on the 79-cent price after a six-week experiment, in which Listen.com charged 49 cents per song, chief executive Sean Ryan said. The move attracted more subscribers and boosted song downloading, although he declined to reveal figures.

Listen.com may allow customers to burn songs for a fee without buying a monthly subscription, Ryan said, calling 2003 “the year to test business models.” [AP]

Let me know when there are 500,000 songs available for under $.50 each and no subscription fee or usage restrictions.