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Amazon DRM-Free Music Store Goes Beta

Posted by kdawson on from the 2-million-songs-from-20-thousand-labels dept.

LowSNR writes "Amazon this morning moved their DRM-free music store into open beta. According to the release, 'Since all our digital music downloads are DRM-free, you can play them on anything that plays mp3s including PCs, Macs(tm), iPods(tm), Zunes(tm), Zens(tm), iPhones(tm), RAZRs(tm), and BlackBerrys. Plus, our Amazon MP3 Downloader application makes it easy to add your downloads to iTunes(tm) and Windows Media Player(tm), so you can sync up your devices or burn your music to CD hassle-free.' Not to mention Linux." Of course, without DRM few of the major labels play with them.

17 of 349 comments (clear)

  1. True, however ... by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Of course, without DRM few of the major labels play with them. That may be true but why not view this as a way to stick it to iTunes and other music services? Everyone on this site has been complaining about wanting an alternative way to get DRM free music so they can stop paying money to a broken, defective by design system known as DRM. Now put your money where your mouth is and rid yourself of iTunes. The music selection may not be as great but if everyone moves, you can make a difference. Not to mention this is probably the best thing to happen to unsigned artists looking to make some quick easy cash even though it may not be much.
    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:True, however ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Note, though, that the distant second-place online music store already sells DRM-free music and yet doesn't seem to have affected iTunes' use of DRM.

      Amazon seems to have a similar number of tracks available as eMusic, but maybe they have more popular artists, and they have a different sales model than iTunes, so perhaps they will have more of an impact... Here's hoping.

    2. Re:True, however ... by EggyToast · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I believe he means non-iPod, and a player that actually has good features. Showing up as a mass storage device is nice, but if the only thing it lets you do is simply copy files back & forth, that means that *all* of the organization is handled by the player. Thus, the interface and features are of the utmost importance. Or they need to support some music library tool that's available for Linux. Or the user has to have very basic portable music needs.

    3. Re:True, however ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Oh yeah! You set up that strawman, and you knocked it clean over with that blast of righteous indignation. You go girl!

    4. Re:True, however ... by Reaperducer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This frightens the labels; if iTunes already does much of the labels' work for them, they may decide to cut out the middleman entirely. The labels have been afraid of becoming obsolete for years now
      Think of the iTunes/Starbucks/iPhone/TouchPod as the next step in this evolution.

      Apple's iTunes cut the stores and delivery middlemen out of the process.
      Starbucks started its own label and signed some pretty big names to it, cutting out the traditional big record companies.
      Then the wireless free iPhone/iPod Touch iTunes Store drives the nail into their chests by letting people load up their music players WITHOUT EVEN HAVING TO OWN A COMPUTER, opening it up to millions more people.

      I know a number of fashionistas who don't have the time/interest/hardware necessary to load up their iPods with music, so they give them to someone else who does it for them either for free (if it's a friend) or for a couple of bucks. There are even some small companies that have formed to perform this service. Now even that step is no longer necessary.

      Game over for the record companies.
      --
      -- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
  2. Now, if only they could get the price down... by bigtangringo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'd be all over that, but as it is, their competition is fierce.

    --
    Yes, I am a smart ass; it's better than the alternative.
  3. Decent Selection by Scootin159 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe I'm not 'mainstream' in what I listen to, but I just checked, and the first 6 albums I could think of were all available there. I really hope this will take off, and then the 'major' music labels will soon feel the threat if they don't offer DRM-free.

  4. apple's labels fail too by DreadSpoon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Beatles? Fail.
    Led Zeppelin? Fail.

    Wait, iTunes doesn't have those either, even under DRM. Hmm...

  5. Amazon MP3 Purchases are limited to U.S. customers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Yeah sure, "Amazon MP3 Purchases are limited to U.S. customers."
    As always. Hello, global economy...

  6. MP3s are great but what about FLAC? by Piata · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If I were to pay to download music, I would want it at much higher quality than any lossy file format could provide. Plus it's always nice to physical own a CD. It's nice to see the market broadening, but there has to be a downloadable music service that really suits my needs.

  7. Re:downloader mandatory for albums only? by nevali · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The software doesn't have to tell Amazon anything, by virtue of you, um, buying stuff on the site, it already knows what you like, just like when you buy anything else from Amazon.

  8. Top 100 by markg11cdn · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Top 100 tracks http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/dmusic/digital-music-track are $0.89 each. I only had to go down to #17 to find one that I recognize (but wouldn't buy) - Blondie/Heart of Glass. A few steps down at #21 I found one to buy, Floyd/Comfortably Numb. All the other tracks (not top-100) on the double album are $0.99 or you can get all 26 tracks for $8.99. All 256 kbps non-drm'd files. This is how music buying should have been from day one.

  9. Wine by ShedPlant · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The Amazon MP3 Downloader installs and (seems to) run fine on Linux with wine. However, since I can't provide a USA billing address, I haven't been able to purchase an album and see if it downloads.

    Still, cool :) . I expect they'll bring this to Amazon worldwide soon.

  10. This works outside the US by Gossi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yep, it says US only, but I'm in the UK and I just purchased a song. When you are asked to confirm your billing address, put in a dummy US address. I used this:

    "
    1 Infinite Loop
    New York
    Cupertino, CA 95014
    "

    (Apple's US headquarters address - it's valid).

    When asked for your phone number, put in your full international dialing number.

    Result? It works. Raw MP3 downloads. Legal. I'm using a Mac, and it works fine with Firefox, Safari and with my iPod and on iTunes.

    1. Re:This works outside the US by Petrushka · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Violating terms of service is not illegal. It merely gives the other party grounds for voiding the contract (and/or litigation, if it's serious enough to make it worthwhile ... and you're both in the same country).

  11. Tag this... by creativeHavoc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Tag this effectivebydesign maybe?

    --
    insight through the mind
  12. Re:Discrimination, discrimination I say. by soliptic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Some of us actually WANT to pay the musicians, composers, lyricists, songwriters, engineers, producers and other creative and hard working individuals behind our most valued form of entertainment.

    Radical concept on slashdot, I know...