Real on Slashdot

Rob Glaser, the CEO of RealNetworks, has a good Q&A on /.. The most interesting response (to a question about pricing):

Based on the data we've seen, we think, long-term, the pricing that will result in the biggest overall market for music will involve some kind of tiered pricing new mainstream songs for 99 cents retail, and up-and-coming artists and back catalog artists at a lower price.

Differentiated pricing indeed. My biggest issue with all the plans to introduce mandatory licensing etc. is that they would eliminate price competition at the mp3 level, which is exactly where it needs to be. Some songs should, legitimately, be available for download for free.