Apple Slices Prices on DRM-Free Tunes

Visitors to the iTunes store will now find that DRM-free music in the iTunes Plus catalog has gone from $1.29 per song to 99 cents, perhaps thanks to competition with Amazon.

Weeks after Amazon directly challenged the iTunes store with an online music library comprised completely of DRM-free music, Apple seems to be feeling the heat and has reduced prices on its own DRM-free offerings. On Tuesday, Apple cut  the prices on its iTunes Plus catalog to 99 cents per song, down from $1.29.

According to Apple, the iTunes store will continue to build its collection of unprotected tracks. “We’re adding over two million tracks from key independent labels in addition to EMI’s digital catalog and look forward to even more labels and artists making their music available on iTunes Plus,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes, in a statement.

Apple claims the iTunes Plus catalog is now the largest DRM-free catalog in the world, at 2 million songs. Oddly enough, Amazon also claimed to have 2 million tracks at launch, meaning, at the very least, that the two are still neck and neck.