Looks like Ars was right about iTunes Plus changes today. iT+ tracks are now 99 cents (US), down from US$1.29, and there are a number of new tracks available from independent labels.
When I checked my iTunes Plus status (go to the iTunes Store’s home page, then look over on the right side for iTunes Plus), I was offered three upgrades (click for full size image):
The upgrade price remains US$3 per album, or 30 cents a track, even though the Plus price has dropped to the $9.99 album / 99c track that I paid originally. I wonder if the people who howled about the iPhone price cut are going to scream bloody murder about this too. Whatever, I want better sound and no DRM, and this is cheap. First rule of capitalism, kids: stuff is worth what people will pay for it.
Two upgrade weirdnesses: when I clicked “buy now”, I had to wait for an e-mail with the link to my upgraded songs:
What, are the indie records so low traffic that they’re ripping the Plus versions a la carte? Probably not; I got the e-mail within five minutes, and off I went.
Another difference I noticed is that the DRM’ed versions of these songs are put in an “Original iTunes Purchases” folder (as before), which is then put in the Trash. I don’t believe my last upgrade was automatically trashed like this.
So, anyways, I’m delighted to see more iTunes Plus music and a price cut, almost certainly a competitive response to the very impressive Amazon MP3 Downloads Store. But I do hope we see more indies on here… almost everything I listen to is indie (or imported game/anime music from Japan, c.f., my last.fm data), and those of you who listen to the CBC Radio 3 podcast will recognize Controller.Controller, Malajube, and Fond Of Tigers on my upgrade list above. Still, I can think of a lot more indies that I wasn’t offered upgrades of: Chixdiggit, The New Pornographers, You Say Party We Say Die, Bend Sinister, The Delgados, etc. I’ve got some anime music video plans that I’ll need non-DRM versions of Rilo Kiley and Immaculate Machine for, and I’d really rather work from a high-bitrate MP3 or AAC than have to resample with Audio Hijack Pro.
Still, this is a positive development. Let’s hope all the artists and labels participating in the DRM free stores — whether iTunes, Amazon, Snocap, or otherwise — do well. After all, there’s lots of great music out there to discover, and I have another 80 GB to fill on my iPod.
Sadly in the UK it doesn't appear to be all iTunes Plus tracks that have got cheaper. All the music that was available last week in iTunes Plus still seems to be £0.99 per track (vs £0.79 for DRM'ed tracks), but some new stuff has appeared listing at £0.79 for an iTunes Plus track.
Sadly anything linked to from the iTunes Plus home page seems to be of the expensive variety, which might put people off.
I see no price cut... they're still $1.29 for me.
I was okay with having to pay to upgrade the one album that was newly available (and at the lower price) in iTunes Plus. I didn't encounter either of the "weirdnesses" you did: the upgrade downloaded immediately, and I was asked whether I wanted to keep or trash the original version.