Cha Ching!

Rumors have been buzzing that Apple would announce at Macworld this week DRM-free music and an increase in the price of iTunes. Today at approximately 10:30 a.m. the rumor became an actual fact. Now instead of paying 99 cents per hit song, you may be having to pay $1.29! Yes, the increase is a slight damper on my parade, but I understand the need for the jump due to the decrease in actual album sales. In case you still want to stick to the standard price, you can always check out Amazon and Rhapsody for digital music.

LA Times blog - 10:30 a.m.: Oh yeah, one more thing. After six years of offering music for 99 cents via the iTunes store, Apple now will offer music at a variety of prices -- something the music labels have been advocating for years. Songs will sell for 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29 depending on demand. In another development, the entire iTunes music catalog will be offered DRM-free. Starting today, about 6 million tracks will be offered without the anti-copying software restrictions. By the end of the first quarter, Apple says, all 10 million songs in the catalog will be DRM-free.

Mashable explains why this is a good change: So who are these changes good for? For one, the record labels, which stand to make more money on releases from expensive, top 40-type artists. Meanwhile, as I wrote last night, the drop in prices is good for consumers whose musical tastes fall more into the long tail of iTunes’ huge music catalog. But, for the millions of people who fuel downloads of iTunes’ most popular tracks, this change marks a 30% price increase, which, adds up to a lot of money on an annual basis.