Music studios are trying to raise the prices of online downloads to capitalize on the demand for such services, the Financial Times reported Monday.

The Times said record labels are wholesaling their music at about 65 cents per song, while resellers like Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes service are selling them for 99 cents apiece. Raising the price of the song would either force the resellers to raise their own prices or cut into their profit margins.

However, raising prices on legally downloadable music may drive consumers back to file-sharing services, where copies of popular tracks are traded from computer to computer, the paper said.

Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in ExtremeTech.