File this one in the amazing, shocking revelation department: Record companies and the financial analysts who follow them are happy about Apple's introduction of variable pricing to the iTunes Store, a plan in which songs will cost $0.69, $0.99, or $1.29. And get this: they're happy because it means record companies can make more money from their product than they could under the old flat-fee $0.99 system.

Remarkable surprise, right? The bigger question, I think, is how consumers are going to respond to this change (which goes live in April). Part of the reason that digital piracy of music exploded in the last decade was the record companies' gouging consumers for inferior product ($17 for a mainstream CD with 2-4 good songs? Are you kidding?). The perceived bargain that a $0.99 song represented was also a big factor in the success of iTunes and the iPod.

And, as a consumer, I love that price. As someone who gets paid for his knowledge output, I'd also like to see higher prices for intellectual property.

It's not really about me, though. It's about the market. So, iTunes Store customers, how (if at all) do you expect variable pricing to affect your buying decisions come April?

Music
Evacuate, by The Boxer Rebelllion (single of the week)

J.S. Bach: Violin Concertos, by Julia Fischer & Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (discovery download)

Te Amo, by Alexandre Acha (latin single of the week)

Video
Sweet About Me, by Gabriella Cilmi

Special: Catch the Frak Up, from Battlestar Galactica

Special: Recap, from Battlestar Galactica

The Face of the Enemy, Scene 1, from Battlestar Galactica

The Face of the Enemy, Scene 2, from Battlestar Galactica

The Face of the Enemy, Scene 3, from Battlestar Galactica

Audiobooks
Plum Spooky: Sneak Peak, by Janet Evanovich

Vermonters rejoice! The iPhone has been almost totally MIA in the Green Mountain state over the years because AT&T doesn't offer coverage on its own network there. By February, that's going to change. Now you enjoy talking on your iPhone while sipping some Green Mountain Coffee (or Mocha Joe's!), eating Ben and Jerrys, and ... uh ... there must be some other native Vermont institution I'm forgetting, right? Um ... drinking that beer they make at the Latchis in Brattleboro. How about that?

Anyway, looks like the 10 Unicel stores in Vermont are going AT&T in February, giving Vermonters native service and iPhone sales. Huzzah!

Music
Good Lovin', by Slim (single of the week)

Oscar Wilde, by Company of Thieves (discovery download)

Calma Pedro, by A Filial (latin single of the week)

Video
Id Engager, by Of Montreal

Episode 1, from DietTribe

We're Not In Kansas Anymore/The Jet Set, from 90210