Apple charges 79p for single song downloads in the UK and 99 cents in European countries which have adopted the euro. Which? said that the UK prices worked out at around 20% higher than in the euro-zone.
"We complained about Apple’s price discrimination back in 2004 – so we’re glad they’ve finally agreed to give British music lovers a fair deal," said Which? lawyer Chris Warner. “The fact they’ll soon be able to download tracks for the same price as European customers will be music to the ears of UK iTunes customers."
Apple, though, said that it might cut its catalogue if record labels continue to charge more for music in the UK than in Europe.
"Apple currently must pay some record labels more to distribute their music in the UK than it pays them to distribute the same music elsewhere in Europe," said an Apple statement. "Apple will reconsider its continuing relationship in the UK with any record label that does not lower its wholesale prices in the UK to the pan-European level within six months."
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said that he hoped that labels would change their practices. "This is an important step towards a pan-European marketplace for music,” said Jobs. “We hope every major record label will take a pan-European view of pricing”.
The European Commission has been conducting antitrust enquiries into Apple and the iTunes store. It said that Apple is responsible for its own iTunes shop structure.
"The Commission’s antitrust proceedings further allowed the Commission to clarify that there is no agreement between Apple and the major record companies regarding how the iTunes store is organised in Europe," said a Commission statement. "Rather, the structure of the iTunes store is chosen by Apple to take into account the country-specific aspects of copyright laws."
The Commission did recognise, though, that some music company licences and practices do make it difficult for Apple to run a pan-European store. Even with the price changes, consumers will only be able to buy music from the part of iTunes designed for their country.
