There are two articles on the front page of today's NY Times's business section that are applicable to the music industry's digital conundrum. One is "Trying To Week Internet Users From Free" by Joseph Nocera and it looks at how the NY Times' new Times Select paid content has early subscribers "at the high end" of expectations. A Times Select success would follow failures by Slate and LA Times' Calendar Live in getting a sustainable amount of paid subscribers. The key may be that Times Select' paid content is for opinion columns, not event listings or everyday news.

Makes me wonder if online music stores can get some people to pay for additional services or content. As any physical music retailers can attest, there's less and less money to be made in selling music. Out of necessity, music retailers are incorporating other, higher margin products and giving music less floor space.

The other article is "For CSI, Press A1," about CBS's plan to offer through Comcast digital cable reruns of four top CBS shows within hours of their broadcasts. The price tag may give some music execs a bit of indigestion: a mere $0.99. When iTunes rolled out its $1.99 price point for videos I wondered if that spell an inability for labels to raise prices for music downloads. And now CBS plans to go even lower. It's hard to imagine any consumer paying more for a four-minute song than for an episode of "CSI."