THE world's largest record company has announced plans to cut the price of albums by up to 30 per cent.

Universal (new.umusic.com), who have artists like U2 and Sir Elton John will reduce the "suggested" price for most CDs to $13 (£8.25) -- down from $17-19 (£11-£12).

The music industry says it has lost out to free, unauthorised song-sharing websites and the proliferation of CD-copying. The industry also has to take into account the legitimate online services like Apple's iTunes, which allows songs to be bought for $0.99.

Although this decision will only affect US sales, it is only a matter of time before European music lovers begin to look at ways to enjoy the price cuts.

And something will have to be done on this side of the Atlantic as the UK singles market saw sales down 37 per cent during 2003.