"Greedy" record companies are pushing for an increase in the price of music downloads, Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs has said.
iTunes make more money for music companies than CDs, says Mr Jobs
Mr Jobs vowed to resist such pressure, after revealing that music firms were pushing for higher prices on Apple's iTunes internet music store.
He said companies already made a bigger profit through iTunes than in CD sales.
Apple's co-founder was speaking ahead of the Apple Expo showcase in Paris. Record companies did not comment.
Mr Jobs said that by cutting out manufacturing jobs, selling through iTunes was already proving lucrative for record companies.
"So if they want to raise the prices it just means they're getting a little greedy," he said.
Big music companies are currently trying to alter the terms of their deals with Apple, with many contracts in the US due for renewal.
The iTunes site in the US charges 99 cents (55p) per song, with prices typically higher in Europe and Japan - it is 79p per song in the UK.
In August, Apple launched its new Japanese iTunes site without Sony BMG's music catalogue, as they could not agree on pricing.
"Customers think the price is really good where it is," said Mr Jobs.
"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'.
"But if the price goes up a lot, they'll go back to piracy. Then everybody loses."
Apple has sold about 22 million iPod digital music players and more than 500 million songs though its iTunes music store.
It accounts for 82% of all legally downloaded music in the US.
A spokeswoman for record company Warner Music declined to comment. Rival firms Sony BMG, EMI and Universal were all unavailable.