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Apple Agrees to Standardize EU iTunes Pricing

Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 8:40 AM - by

Apple Inc. announced on Wednesday plans to lower the price of iTunes Store music purchases in the U.K. within six months to match E.U. pricing. The change in fees will standardize iTunes Store pricing throughout Europe.

The Mac and iPod maker claimed that some record labels are charging the company more to distribute music in the U.K. than in other parts of Europe which led to higher prices at the iTunes Store. Apple now needs those unnamed labels to lower their prices so that then amount iTunes Store customers pay can drop, too.

Should the record companies refuse to drop their prices, however, it looks like Apple is ready to play hard ball. The company said in a statement "Apple will reconsider its continuing relationship in the UK with any record label that does not lower its wholesale prices in the UK to the pan-European level within six months."

Apple CEO Steve Jobs added "This is an important step towards a pan-European marketplace for music. We hope every major record label will take a pan-European view of pricing."

Presumably the European Union will now be able to conclude its investigation into Apple's sale practices at the iTunes Store.

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