The Price Is Right

Whitney Houston's passing on February 11 didn't shock the world. The death that was heard around the world might have been a surprise for those who hadn't heard from her in years, but her passing was expected considering her long-standing history with drugs. It's unfortunate, of course, considering the impact she had made on the music industry and the talent that she had shared with the world... but there's no way anybody was shocked when they found out Whitney Houston was "found" dead in the Beverly Hills Hotel.

The various news outlets that broke news of her death claimed the cause of death had not yet been determined, and although her fans probably hoped drugs weren't involved, as soon as details starting pouring in that she had been found in her bathtub, possibly underwater, things starting getting pretty clear. The music legend, who had lived quite an insane life, no doubt died as a result of drug overdose... and that's fine. It's no big deal. It's unfortunate, it's sad, but it was also expected.

In fact, it also wasn't a shock that her album sales on iTunes went up after her death. The same thing happened with Michael Jackson when he "suddenly" died. The big surprise, however, was not news of her death or the fact that her music sales jumped, but news that the price of her albums were hiked up immediately after her passing... just hours after her death, to be exact. It's not only disgusting, but it also goes to show how money hungry and business-minded conglomerates can be.

Whitney Houston's "The Ultimate Collection" on iTunes in the UK went from $7.85 to $12.50 and "The Greatest Hits" went from $12.5o to $15.67. The issue was met with controversy, obviously, but Apple claims this was not done on their part. Instead, the blame seems to be pointing toward Sony, who owns the rights to much of Whitney Houston's music.

Sony released a statement, claiming all of this was just a "mistake," blaming the price hike on an employee.

The statement claimed that the products were "mistakenly mispriced on the UK iTunes store on Sunday. When discovered, the mistake was immediately corrected. We apologize for any offense caused."

In the same way that Whitney Houston's death wasn't a big shock, the same can be said for Sony's excuse regarding the matter. It's not a big surprise that they would blame the entire "inconvenience" on an employee, but the simple fact of the matter is that they saw an opportunity and decided to squeeze in a few extra bucks.

This is exploitation at its finest.