There’s indeed something interesting happening over at Amazon MP3 concerning cheap deals on MP3 album downloads. This Digital Audio Insider blog entry talks more about the pricing structure and maybe what’s behind it all. I’ve picked up some of the Amazon MP3 album deals from time to time, such as a collection of James Brown hits (20) for $1.99 or a similar ridiculous low price.
Personally I think that if the price for albums would indeed be $5 for any record older than five years, the whole idea of the long tail of Internet marketing would really take off. It’s quite OK to take down the price for a product that has already been distributed as vinyl and as a CD, no need to try to squeeze out even more money from consumers. There are many contemporary releases where such a lower pricing structure would generate more downloads and ultimately more revenue compared with keeping prices high.
Amazon is my friend for Downtempo MP3s. Much cheaper than other options, bigger selection. No FLACs tho. :(