Slipknot lead singer Corey Taylor by Yulia Grigoryeva/Shutterstock.com
Windows Phone, PC and tablet users in the US can look forward to scoring some new music on the cheap as Microsoft has unveiled an app that offers albums for as little as US$0.99.
With the Microsoft Music Deals app, 101 albums can be downloaded every Tuesday, with newer records available for US$0.99 and older LPs costing US$1.99.
Among the albums available this week are mellow American band Slipknot’s latest album .5: The Gray Chapter, Maroon 5’s V, as well as older classics, such as Prince’s Purple Rain and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Microsoft revealed in a blog post.
Once an album is purchased it’s added to a user’s Xbox Music account, where it can be downloaded to own. However, the app is only available within the US right now with no announced plans for a worldwide rollout.
The news follows recent reports of Apple beginning talks with a number of major record labels. The consumer tech giant is seeking to lower the cost of online music-streaming subscriptions as it prepares an overhauled version of its recently acquired Beats Music service.
Having initially been resistant to the subscription-based model, major labels currently allow streaming services, such as Spotify, Rhapsody and Beats, to offer customers all they can stream for US$10 a month in the US (in Ireland, Spotify Premium costs €10 a month). However, Apple reportedly believes the price is too high.
It would seem that whether it’s streaming or downloads, we may be looking at a bit of a digital music price war.
Slipknot image via Shutterstock
