Labels Are Losing iTunes Money as a Result of Variable Pricing

Okay, there's a funny. After screaming that Apple was keeping them from making as much money as they possibly could and threatening to do god-knows-what to iTunes/iPhones availability for their catalogs, the majors have cake all over their faces as it's shown Steve Jobs & company understand far more about young record buyers than Wall Street ever will. From Digital Music News:

Major labels are seeing sales decreases following a shift towards variable pricing on iTunes, according to numerous sources to Digital Music News. The sources include executives within the majors, all of whom requested anonymity.

In the initial weeks following the pricing changes, including a move towards top-end, $1.29 downloads, overall revenues are moving downward. Lower unit sales can still result in greater revenues given the higher pricing tiers. But according to the figures shared, unit sales are dipping far enough to produce aggregated revenue declines compared to the pre-variable position.