November 16, 2009

By By Ayala Ben-Yehuda, L.A.

Mexico's Ideas Telcel digital music store has cut per-track prices to 10
pesos, or about 77 cents, from the country's dominant wireless operator. The price cut applies to all 1.4 million songs in Ideas Telcel's catalog, but doesn't include a transmission charge of 5 pesos for over-the-air downloads.

The move was reportedly intended to match iTunes'prices in Mexico, which range from 12 - 15 pesos per track (with albums going for as little as 110 pesos). Aliado Digital reports that Ideas Telcel had been selling tracks for 11 to 15 pesos, in line with its competitors such as Mixup Digital and the Nokia Music Store.

An Ipsos Media study in 2008 showed 58% of Mexican respondents reported having downloaded music online within the last three months, up from 42% in 2007. But the study also estimated that the number of illegally downloaded songs had doubled during the same period.

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