Jobs gains ground in iTunes pricing war

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs appears to have taken the upper hand over the music industry in the battle to decide the price of music downloads.

According to a report in the New York Post, the big four record labels had been pushing Apple to agree to introduce variable pricing instead of the 79 pence per song model the online song shop now uses.

Jobs has steadfastly resisted introducing variable pricing, calling the record labels who wished to do so "greedy".

The Post reported that the record labels -- EMI, SonyBMG, Universal and Warner -- are set to abandon their demands to charge different prices for different songs as they negotiate their soon-to-expire licensing agreements with Apple, although some are said to have considered removing their catalogues from the service.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on "ongoing negotiations".