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Sony Announces DRM-Free Music at Amazon

Posted by Soulskill on from the not-as-dumb-as-we-thought dept.

sehlat brings us a New York Times report that Sony has agreed to start selling DRM-free music from Amazon's MP3 store. This comes days after Sony revealed plans for physical MusicPass cards that would allow DRM-free access to a small portion of Sony's library. Now that all four major record labels are on board with Amazon, some are expecting Apple to make moves away from DRM as well. From the NYTimes: "Sony's partnership with Amazon.com also underscores the music industry's gathering effort to nurture an online rival to Apple, which has sold more than three billion songs through its iTunes store. Most music purchased on iTunes can be played only on Apple devices, and Apple insists on selling all single tracks for 99 cents. Amazon, which sells tracks for anywhere from 89 cents to over a dollar, offers the pricing variability the labels want."

4 of 293 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Apple already did with EMI - They were first! by kamapuaa · · Score: 4, Informative
    Apple already moved away from DRM with EMI and "iTunes Plus" tracks. They were the first online music reseller to do so.

    That's not true. emusic.com was doing this years before iTunes.

    --
    Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
  2. Re:There's Already DRM-Free Music At Amazon.... by Khyber · · Score: 5, Informative

    Umm, you apparently don't know much about "Compact discs" as many such discs HAVE DRM (Sony rootkit, anyone?) Look really closely at that album you're about to buy. Does the case have the SANCTIONED Compact Disc logo on the packaging? No? That's because any CD with any sort of DRM or modification (bonus data tracks) violates the Compact Disc Format, and is not allowed to carry that branding.

    In other words, if you don't see the sanctioned logo on front or back of the case on the actual paper inserts, odds are you have a DRM-laden disc.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  3. Re:Free market by Steve001 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Bob[Bob] wrote and included with a post:

    2) It's in MP3. I think non-DRM's AAC files are fine, but MP3's are more desirable.

    Whuh? Why would you prefer MP3 over AAC? Are you still using a Diamond Rio or something? :-)

    The main reason I can think of for preferring MP3 over AAC: Just about every compressed audio player will play MP3 files. Although the number of players that will play AAC file is increasing, it will be a long time before it will approach the number that can play MP3.

    I have many devices that will play compressed audio files (including my computer). All will play MP3, five will play WMA, two will play AAC, and two will play ATRAC.

    One of the main advantages AAC has over MP3 is better sound quality at a lower bitrate. For me, encoding my MP3 files at a 192 bitrate gives me good sound quality, and I don't mind the extra space it take to store the files. I might save space using AAC but the files will only play on a limited number of devices.

  4. Re:Free market by curiosity · · Score: 5, Informative

    They are at 256kbps from Amazon.