Downloads at a Fraction of the Cost

We asked Tunespro if iTunes should be scared

The demise of the CD is undeniable.  Sales have slumped as more and more of us choose to purchase music in digital formats.  There is now a bewildering array of ways to consume this music, from streaming services such as Last.fm and Spotify, to a plethora of online music stores.

Despite the increasing degree of choice, the price of music downloads has remained relatively high, with the typical price of a single set at 79p in the UK, with the typical price of an album from Apple’s iTunes set at around eight to ten pounds.

We haven’t seen many competitors take a serious stab at undercutting the more established music download services, but a new site called TunesPro.com is looking to shake up the market.

The site is offering DRM free songs and albums at a fraction of the price offered by iTunes.  An initial inspection of their music library left us quite impressed, though it’s not yet as extensive as that of Apple’s music store.

Our search for “Capdown” elicited no results from TunesPro, while iTunes offered us six albums, but we did find music by the Beta Band, Isobel Campbell and The Twilight Sad, all of whom inhabit the less commercial end of the musical spectrum.

Popular artists who feature prominently in the charts were all well represented, so most people will find a wide range of songs suited to their tastes.

Navigation is intuitive; you can search for music by genre, artist or album, view the UK, US and German charts, or see the site’s “bestsellers”.  Admittedly, the interface is not quite as slick as that of iTunes, but the site is simple to understand and use.

The place where TunesPro really excels is the pricing structure.  The typical cost of a single track is just $0.19 (that’s twelve of your finest pence) and albums are priced at around two to three dollars.  To illustrate just what a bargain this is let me compare musical shopping lists:

At the time of writing these are the top five albums of the UK chart.  To buy them from iTunes you’d have to fork out nearly £40 but the same five albums would cost less than a tenner from Tunes Pro.

Geeks.co.uk contacted Tunes Pro to find out a little more, and we’ve learned that these are promotional prices that will be active for another three months.  But, even when this promotion is over, the tracks will still be markedly less expensive than those of iTunes, with a typical single costing just $.079 (£0.48).

The folks at TunesPro have been overwhelmed by the positive response that they’ve had since the site’s launch:

“I’m really glad that there is so much interest in the site itself.   In just the last few days 10 independent record labels have sent us enquiries about publishing their stuff on TunesPro.   People think it’s amazing and want to know more about it.” Said a spokeswoman.

We asked whether Spotify and iTunes should be afraid:

“We all have to pay $0.58 to record labels so compared to iTunes we will make only 21 cents per song.  They are just too greedy for the money,” they said.

“We don’t care about the other sites:  let customers choose what’s best for them.  Personally, I find that Spotify works well but online streaming?  I don’t see the point of it.”

It’s hard to argue with the prices.  To find out more you can visit the new TunesPro.com website.