Talking of the price of downloads in the UK, industry insiders are anticipating a possible price war in the UK digital music sector as Woolworths announced it is running a six week sale on its download platform meaning tracks will be available for
67p each, with albums down to £6.80. That means the Woolworths service will undercut most of the other key players in the mainstream digital music space, including iTunes, Napster, Tesco and MyCokeMusic, by 12p.
**Anthony
Moore**, New Channels Director for Woolworths, told reporters:
"It's our best price ever, and the best price ever in the digital market. Digital music is moving more and more into mainstream consumers' lives and as a result traditional retail tactics, like sales and promotions, are going to become an everyday part of the download business. We're in there first, we expect it to be very popular with customers and expect competitors to follow."
Woolworths are not the first to sell tracks below the standard UK download price of 79p - both Whippet and EasyMusic offer some tracks for considerably smaller prices. However the Woolworths promotion is different in that it covers the retailer's whole catalogue, meaning the cheaper price doesn't just apply to newer or lesser known artists, as is generally the case with the variable pricing platforms. That said, when Walmart entered the download market in the US with a cost cutting strategy it didn't do much to harm Apple's industry leader status - iTunes so far sticking fast to its price point despite new competition.
Woolworths, however, will be hoping that their high brand awareness among the mainstream music buyer combined with the price reduction will give them an edge as the download market passes the early-adopter stage. Certainly they will be cross-promoting it heavily in their high street stores.