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Warner Music Group Drops DRM for Amazon

Posted by Soulskill on from the step-in-the-right-direction dept.

SirLurksAlot sends us to Ars Technica for an article about the Warner Music Group's decision to allow DRM-free music downloads through Amazon. This reversal of Warner's former position has been underway for some time, and it boosts the number of DRM-free songs available from Amazon to 2.9 million. Quoting: "Warner's announcement says nothing about offering its content through other services such as iTunes, and represents the music industry's attempt to make life a bit more difficult for Apple after all the years in which the company held the keys to music's digital kingdom.

5 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Can't argue with Amazon by RickRussellTX · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've downloaded several albums and I'm very happy with it. Odd mix of bit rates (some are about 224 kbit VBR, others are 256 kbit fixed rate), but no complaints with the music. I just wish their library was larger.

    Only real complaint is that the album downloader (that allows you to get the album discount) only runs on Windows & MacOS. Write a Java client and get with the program, Amazon!

  2. Re:Excellent by snib · · Score: 5, Informative

    I find iTunes' browsing interface to be very nice and the simple search to be faster and easier than every other music store I've tried. As for DRM, try QTFairUse - it very quickly strips DRM from protected tracks. It scans your iTunes library for protected tracks, backs them up, decodes them, and replaces them in your library and all playlists with the unprotected ones. 10-20 seconds per track and it's lossless. It also transfers the ID3 info to the new tracks, as well as album artwork. Of course there's already a lot of tracks in iTunes Plus (DRM-free mp3) which saves you the small trouble.

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  3. Re:Excellent by snib · · Score: 5, Informative

    Oops... I guess i should put a link for those who haven't heard of it:

    QTFairUse download & discussion

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  4. Erm.. did they say 'globe' ? by LesFerg · · Score: 5, Informative

    The first/last time I tried to purchase an online album from Amazon (just last week) I was informed that the service is only available within the US. So altho Warner may have recognized the "anti-DRM winds sweeping the globe" it seems that the DRM-free zone has distinct limitations.

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  5. Re:Not about DRM by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 4, Informative

    When I download music from the Amazon store, it updates my iTunes library as well.