PARIS - Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs said Tuesday he would resist music companies' "greedy" demands for price increases on the iTunes music download site and warned that such a move would encourage piracy.
Jobs, speaking to reporters before the opening of the Apple Expo in Paris, acknowledged that some record companies were pushing him to raise the price of each song download, currently 99 cents on the U.S. iTunes site.
Record companies already make more profit by selling a song through iTunes than on a CD, with all the associated manufacturing and marketing costs, Jobs said.
"So if they want to raise the prices it just means they're getting a little greedy."
The Apple co-founder and CEO indicated he plans to stand firm. "We're trying to compete with piracy, we're trying to pull people away from piracy and say, 'You can buy these songs legally for a fair price,'" he said.
"But if the price goes up a lot, they'll go back to piracy. Then everybody loses."
Apple has sold about 22 million of its iPod digital music players and more than 500 million songs through the iTunes Music Store. The service accounts for 82 percent of all legally downloaded music in the United States.
Jobs, speaking to reporters before the opening of the Apple Expo in Paris, acknowledged that some record companies were pushing him to raise the price of each song download, currently 99 cents on the U.S. iTunes site.
Record companies already make more profit by selling a song through iTunes than on a CD, with all the associated manufacturing and marketing costs, Jobs said.
"So if they want to raise the prices it just means they're getting a little greedy."
The Apple co-founder and CEO indicated he plans to stand firm. "We're trying to compete with piracy, we're trying to pull people away from piracy and say, 'You can buy these songs legally for a fair price,'" he said.
"But if the price goes up a lot, they'll go back to piracy. Then everybody loses."
Apple has sold about 22 million of its iPod digital music players and more than 500 million songs through the iTunes Music Store. The service accounts for 82 percent of all legally downloaded music in the United States.
