Amazon, Wal-Mart follow iTunes’ lead, raise prices

Both Amazon MP3 and Wal-Mart have raised prices on select digital songs following the iTunes Store’s move to variable pricing yesterday. Select tracks on Amazon’s MP3 store are now $1.29, matching iTunes’ top-tier pricing, while Wal-Mart has raised certain songs from $.94 to $1.24. Amazon’s decision to raise prices may seem unusual given that the service actually cut the price of many top-selling songs in its UK store ahead of the iTunes Store’s price hikes, cutting the minimum price on songs from 0.59 pounds to 0.29, or from roughly $.87 to $.43. CNet writer Matt Rosoff, however, suggests it wasn’t Amazon’s choice. “I can’t imagine Amazon’s excited about raising prices in a recession—they’re probably responding to price increases by the record labels, which were made possible by Apple’s capitulation,” Rosoff writes.