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Story

Amazon announces a new competitor to iTunes, Amazon MP3.

The Good

• Digital Rights Management (DRM) free - no restrictions imposed. Use on any MP3 player, not just iPods.
• A la carte - buy any songs you want, instead of entire albums.
  
• $0.89 - $0.99 for songs
• Top 100 best-selling songs are $0.89, unless stated otherwise
• Albums from $5.99 to $9.99
• Top 100 best-selling albums are $8.99 or lower, unless stated otherwise
• High quality - 256kbps
• Download individual songs using one-click button
  

The Bad

• Only 2 million songs
• Amazon MP3 Downloader software required for album downloads.
• Amazon MP3 Downloader runs only on Windows XP/Vista, Mac OSX 10.4 or higher. Linux version in the works.
• In beta - may contain some bugs.
  

Thoughts

Plenty of people have been claiming that they would be scrambling to lighten their wallets if there was a reasonable offering of DRM free, high quality tracks. While not as cheap as AllofMp3 Mp3Sparks or other similar mp3 stores (which may be illegal in some countries), Amazon MP3 beta is definitely legit.

Amazon MP3 also has the added advantage of its existing customer base who already know how to use the Amazon website. By making the process of downloading singles similar to its other products, Amazon may have a winner on its hands already won half the battle (I really should pay attention to what I'm typing :) ). It would be interesting to see if Amazon MP3 can edge out the iTunes store in time to come (which would help to dispel the myth that DRM free tracks are impossible/impractical to sell).

[Source: Amazon.com Launches Public Beta of Amazon MP3, a Digital Music Store Offering Customers Earth’s Biggest Selection of a la Carte DRM-Free MP3 Music Downloads @ Business Wire via Engadget]

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