Well, that didn’t take long. Amazon.com (NSDQ: AMZN) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) have both quietly followed Apple’s lead and will now charge more for some top-selling tracks in their MP3 stores. Some songs will now sell for $1.29 at Amazon’s MP3 store, up from 99 cents, while Wal-Mart is now charging $1.24 for top tracks, up from 94 cents. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) introduced variable pricing to its iTunes music store Tuesday, by charging 69 cents for older tracks, 99 cents for recent songs and $1.29 for new hits, instead of the previous 99 cents for any track.

SEE ALSO: MP3 Price War: Amazon Offers 29p MP3s As iTunes Intros Tiers

Amazon’s decision to raise prices seems especially unusual, considering that the company actually cut the price of some top-selling MP3s in the UK on Tuesday in advance of Apple’s price increases. Amazon has also started to gain some traction in the MP3 market. But Directions on Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) analyst Matt Rosoff, who first reported the price hikes on his CNET blog, writes that he “can’t imagine Amazon’s excited about raising prices in a recession—they’re probably responding to price increases by the record labels, which were made possible by Apple’s capitulation.”