The former boss of record label Warner Music UK, Rob Dickins, has called for the price of music albums to be "radically" cut to just £1. The idea is that such a price would make using your broadband ISP to download copyright music "illegally", for free, almost pointless.

We note, like the BBC article, that Amazon already sells some older or less popular albums for £3 to £6. Even Spotify offers a free streaming service, but neither appears to have had the desired impact on P2P File Sharing piracy.


As you might expect, many in the music industry don't agree and see such a price level as being unprofitable. However Album sales are already being eroded by Legal Digital Downloads, which allow you to buy the tracks you actually want and not a whole slew of many that you don't. It may only be a matter of time before the very concept of what an Album is will require a serious re-think.