Warners wants to fix the price

In what is clearly yet another attempt to try and force the cost of digital downloads upwards, Warners are trialling variable pricing:

The record label, which is home to Madonna, has signed a deal with Digonex Technologies who specialise in suggesting prices based upon behavioural principles.

The test, which will run for a limited time, will mean that “consumers can actively help set prices for select digital albums”.

Consumers have, of course, been busily setting prices for digital albums since Napster became popular - we're not entirely sure that 'zero' is quite what Warners has in mind.

Jan Eglen, CEO of Digonex Technologies, said the pilot program was “groundbreaking”, adding that the company is “confident that our technology has the potential to have a significant impact on digital album sales for the selected titles.”

Selling less popular stuff for lower prices and more popular stuff for higher prices. We're not sure that's all that groundbreaking, is it?