THE world’s biggest record companies are on a collision course with Apple Computer over the pricing of online music, with the music groups seeking the freedom to set variable pricing of songs sold on Apple’s popular iTunes online music store.

SonyBMG, along with rivals such as EMI and Universal Music, is eager for Apple to abandon its strict maxim of a fixed price for all songs, with tracks available for 99 cents in the United States, and 79p in Britain.

They believe that a variable model would allow them to break new artists by offering their songs at a lower price.

They could also earn more by charging higher prices for tracks by their top artists.

Ted Schadler, an analyst with Forrester Research, said that studies had shown that consumers would pay more for popular tracks. In the United States the industry could charge up to $1.50 for the latest James Blunt or Beyoncé single, while charging less than 99 cents for an older song.

The prospect of higher prices led Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, to accuse record companies of being “greedy” in Paris this week. “If the price goes up, they (consumers) will go back to piracy and everybody loses,” he said.

One record industry executive said that Apple had generated sales of roughly $6 billion (£3.3 billion) from its iPods and iTunes, while the music companies have made sales of about $350 million.

Mr Jobs added: “Customers think the price is really good where it is. We’re trying to compete with piracy, we’re trying to pull people away from piracy and say: ‘You can buy these songs legally for a fair price’.”

Among the four so-called “majors” of the music industry, SonyBMG is thought to be pushing hardest for a variable pricing structure.