Slashdot Mirror
Amazon to Open DRM-Free MP3 Music Download Store
mtnlion1 writes "Amazon.com announced it will launch a digital music store later this year offering millions of songs in the DRM-free MP3 format from more than 12,000 record labels. EMI Music's digital catalog is the latest addition to the store. Every song and album in the Amazon.com digital music store will be available exclusively in the MP3 format without digital rights management (DRM) software. Amazon's DRM-free MP3s will free customers to play their music on virtually any of their personal devices and burn songs to CDs for personal use."
Hmm, what does the word "premium" mean in there? More expensive? Just some subset of their catalog?
ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.
I wonder what strings they were able to pull to get this moving faster/better than iTunes has... hurm....
Will it only be music from the EMI catalog?
They have the section of their site where individuals can sell things as "used" , will they expand this so that unsigned bands can sell their MP3's without a recording label behind them?
I'm a fiscal conservative, it's a pity we don't have a political party anymore
If all the Labels begin making their own sites or deals with DRM free-MP3 music files that can play on ANY PLAYER that sort of cripples the iTunes/iPod monopoly wouldn't you think?
The Labels could do what they want now, set up their own sites, charge more for popular songs, less for the "filler", even go back to selling just the whole albulm, the skys the limit.
And by slowly delaying releases on iTunes, eventually pulling their music off of it in favor of their own sites it would really hurt iPod sales. Really after all it's the iTMS store and the access to all that content that sells iPods.
A iPod is just a player, iTunes is a good piece of software that can be copied and without content the iTMS would be dead.
Is Apple's bright star in the sky about to fall?
(Posting as AC to avoid the unreasonable lynch mob of Apple fanatics)
Well, eMusic already has MP3 songs available, although most of the music is from independent artists. They only charge about 30 cents a song. This is my biggest problem with iTunes. They charge almost the same price as the physical CD for a file transfered over the internet. Cutting out the entire distribution chain, along with losses due to breakage and theft, and there's no physical materials required, and they are still charging $11 for an album. I imagine that Amazons pricing will be right inline with iTunes, which will be either 99 cents a song, or 1.29 like the iTunes songs that they will be releasing in MP3 format.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Likewise, there is no excuse for devices and stores to not support OGG Vorbis.
Really, why wouldn't you want to use a high quality, patent free codec? MP3 and AAC are patent infested, though AAC is slightly better (with mp3 you have to pay to sell mp3s).
"It ain't a war against drugs.it's a war against personal freedom" --Bill Hicks
It's probably a bit premature for that declaration.
/. post :). I've since found a great deal of music I never knew I liked (or loved). Now, I have $14.11 credit at ITMS that has been there for about 6 months and will proabably never be used. Oh well.
Quality notwithstanding, people are trying to buy music they like, not music they can play anywhere or in whatever format they want, or even the best possible quantity. Naturally those things are important, but if someone wants a single song off an album, they'll buy the DRM version at iTunes if they can't get it anywhere else. They are not going to buy some track they don't know or care about just because it's available at high quality with no drm in their favorite format. Content is of the first importance.
I have to admit, I was pretty taken up with ITMS until a good while back, but then I found eMusic (Thanks to a
Another thing: I've actually replaced a pretty good deal of the music I already paid for at ITMS. Some single songs I purchased there were from albums I initially didn't want to purchase whole, but when you cruise the used disc section at Newbury Comics or (in a pinch, since they're more expensive) Strawberries, you find some surprising stuff.
One day, maybe I'll use my ITMS credit for something, but over the last year, I've spent more on hard copies and on eMusic than I've spent on ITMS, and my ITMS spending still adds up to a LOT more than I spent in the 10 years prior to getting an iPod.
Bottom line though, while I'm still more interested in buying music I like than buying formats, I have changed my method of buying that music. That's what's eventually going to put a damper on the ITMS juggernaut. It is certainly not going to happen because a single (or even a few) of the big companies made special deals that allow customers to spend an arm and a leg to get a moderate quality, DRM free copy of the music they steal from the artists. Besides, as mentioned by a previous poster, Jobs is trying to get rid of DRM, he's just dragging his feet about it and seems to be willing to increase the price, rather than dropping it.
$11 for an album is the same as an actual CD price? How long has it been since you've looked been in an actual music store, anyway? I feel lucky if I find a CD for $14; $11 is cheap. I don't think you can get any decent CDs for $11 even off of Amazon with its everpresent discounts.
The fight against DRM seems to be heating up. MP3s seem to be getting more of the attention with regards to removing DRM. Why is it mostly music? Why aren't we getting the same for movies?
ilovegeorgebush
There is a very simple reason why DRM-free music is likely to be more expensive than the DRMed version, it is more valuable to the consumer. Think about it, what would you rather have? Because the DRM doesn't work anyway the only real difference between DRMed and DRM free music is that DRMed music adds an extra inconvenience. This makes it less desirable to consumers and thus companies will have to charge less to get the same demand. That the price of both DRMed and DRM-free music is high compared to CDs is simply a case of cartels, limited competition and ignorance from consumers. If people only ever bought music from the cheaper sites the more expensive distributors would have no choice but to lower their prices. Prices are high because people put up with it. I don't know if it will last or not, but if the big labels don't bring their prices down I'd think it is only a question of time before some large company takes advantage of the situation and run over them when they least expect it. Just imagine what would happen if Google decided to join the game with Free advert financed downloads. The RIAA wouldn't even know what hit them...
No one has really ever verified the assertion that Ogg Vorbis is not covered by any patents. The patent situation for Vorbis is a big unknown whereas it is well established for MP3 and AAC (and WMA for manufacturers that use it). If a big manufacturer researched Vorbis' patent situation and found it infringed on some patents somewhere they would have spent all that time and money for nothing. If they avoid Vorbis all together it costs them nothing. An insignificant number of people even know what Ogg Vorbis is and only a fraction of that will only buy a music player that supports it. Small manufacturers are free to include Ogg Vorbis support because people holding submarine patents covering technology in Vorbis don't give a shit about them. They're waiting for someone actually making money to support the codec.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.