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Reports suggest that the move signals a reduction in the price of all iTunes Plus tracks from 99p to 79p and albums from £9.99 to £7.99. At the same time Apple is expected to announced that independent labels - most of whom have long-supported DRM-free downloading - are joining iTunes Plus.

Indeed, From Nothing to One by The Perishers from independent label Nettwerk is one of the new cut-price

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iTunes Plus albums.

The price cut will almost certainly have been prompted by the recent opening of Amazon's MP3 store in the US, which is selling unrestricted downloads for as little as 89 cents. iTunes Plus, by contrast, has been asking $1.29, although in some cases its album prices are lower than Amazon's. Nonetheless it always seemed unlikely that Apple would be able to maintain the disparity in the headline prices.

Apple began selling DRM-free music after striking a deal with EMI earlier this year. EMI said soon afterwards that the results were "good" but neither the record company nor Apple has given any figures for iTunes sales since the change.

Amazon sells only DRM-free tracks from indie labels, EMI and, unlike Apple, Universal.