NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Along with the cell phone, the compact disk has become a mainstay of modern consumer electronics. And now there are predictions CD prices will fall, thanks to an agreement between music companies and the government. CNN's Allan Dodds Frank has that story in New York -- Allan.</s>ALLAN DODDS FRANK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Natalie, in less than an hour, the Federal Trade Commission will announce that it has reached consent decrees with the five biggest music companies, Time Warner, which of course is the parent of this network, Sony, Bertelsmann's BMG Music Group, Universal Music, and EMI. Now, the FTC is going to say that consumers have been charged half a billion dollars extra in the last three years as a result of anti-competitive practices. Now, the consent decrees apparently cover the use of promotional money that goes to record stores and big discounters to encourage them to keep the prices up. And the way the practice worked was, the stores wouldn't get the money if they tried to lower prices below the prices recommended by the companies. Now, consumers are not going to get any money back directly, but the theory is, at least, that the big companies particularly, will start discounting CDs, maybe even below what they are costing, in order to attract more business -- Natalie.</s>ALLEN: All right, Allan Dodds Frank, thank you, from New York.
FTC Set to Announce Settlement on CD Prices