The Apple iTunes music store has refused to sell the charity Band Aid song Do They Know It’s Christmas? because it would damage the company’s dominance of the download market.
The track costs £1.49 on other major online sites which have agreed to donate their profits to relief efforts in Africa. Apple sells individual tracks at 79p but has refused to raise its price for the charity song.
Because of iTunes’s dominance of the online market, Apple’s refusal to sell the track could reduce the revenues raised through online sales by 70 per cent. Millions of iPod owners will not be able to play the track over the Christmas period.
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