And more EMI/Coldplay related nonsense. Woolies will sell the new Coldplay album for under a fiver via its recently relaunched download store, albeit to the first 5000 people to download it.
According to Music Week, the high street retailer, which is hoping to gain a bigger share of the download market having decided to stop stocking CD singles in its stores, has admitted its decision to sell 'Viva La Vida' for £4.97 to the first 5000 downloaders could start a price war – that price point is £2 less than most other download stores. They quote Woolies Music Trading Manager Alan Hunt thus: "£4.97 is a stunning price for any new release album, let alone the hottest release of the year. Value is extremely important to Woolies customers and this is an example of us driving down prices as much as possible for our digital customers as well as our online and in-store customers".
Personally I'm not sure the download sector is ready for a price war, but speaking as someone who gets most of his music as free promo CDs, I'm probably not much of a champion for the consumer who probably likes the idea of digital albums coming down in price. Personally I want to keep download prices high – that way the value of the promo CDs I resell on eBay stays high too. No, only joking. No, really I am. You can't arrest me, I'm a respectable music reporter who goes on the 'Today' programme, not one of those dodgy promo reselling down and out DJs.