iLounge

Despite a recent push for variable song pricing by some in the music industry, Apple has reportedly renewed contracts with the four major record labels to keep songs on the iTunes Music Store priced at 99 cents each. “The agreements came after months of bargaining, and were a defeat for music companies that had been pushing for a variable pricing model,” reports the Financial Times. Of the music industry’s big four record labels, executives at Warner Music, EMI and Sony BMG have all expressed their support for variable pricing. Apple CEO Steve Jobs last year famously called the record companies “greedy” for considering to raise song prices.

Update: Apple has released an official statement confirming the news. “We’ve renewed our agreements with the major music companies and we’re pleased to continue offering iTunes customers music at 99 cents per song from a library of over 3 million songs,” an Apple representative said in a statement.