Higher digital music prices not a good deal

Four years ago when Apple launched the iTunes Music Store, the company preached the good news of an easy-to-understand pricing structure for consumers: all tracks at 99 cents, most albums for $9.99.

Since then, the notion of simple low price has been a mantra for digital music retail. Even those in the subscription business pursued a similar tack, with many offering their services for about the price of a CD per month.

But suddenly, many of the offers aren’t as cheap, or sometimes as simple, as they used to be.

Leading the trend are Apple and EMI, which in May will debut a new premium-priced digital rights management-free tier of near CD-quality downloads featuring music from the likes of the Good, the Bad & the Queen, the new band whose lineup includes Damon Albarn of Blur and Paul Simonon of the Clash.