The record industry thinks that 99 cents a song (which is what Apple charges at the iTunes Music Store) is too cheap, and the five major labels (Universal Music Group, EMI, BMG, Sony and Warner Music) are discussing a song price hike ranging from US$1.25 to $2.49 per song, Matt Buchanan writes in a Washington Square News column. “At that price, downloading music will become far more expensive than buying CDs, which would practically destroy the online music market,” the columnist writes. “This is counter to everything the record companies should be doing. If anything, they should be cutting prices to make it more attractive to download music legally. Instead, this move will push online music junkies back into the world of file sharing.”