Amazon launches sale of DRM-free MP3s
Submitted by Merlin on September 25, 2007 - 1:35pm.
Daring Fireball: The Amazon MP3 Store and Amazon MP3 Downloader
Given the Amazon MP3 Store’s audio quality, prices, and user experience, I can’t see why anyone would buy DRM-restricted music from iTunes that’s available from Amazon. And given that Amazon is quite a bit cheaper than iTunes Plus, you might as well check Amazon first. I plan to.
I’m with Gruber – this is a welcome and fan-friendly addition to the marketplace. And, frankly, I’m glad there’s finally somebody out there who can really give Apple some competition in this area.
One thing: I’m surprised that MP3 sales links aren’t yet mixed into regular CD sales pages. That must certainly be high on their TODO list. Because Amazon’s Google juice is strong as hell, and on the day they put “Buy This Track Now” onto a few dozen thousand PR5+ music pages? Well. That may be the day Apple gets to really see what competition in this space looks like.
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No need to Worry
Amazon confirmed Tuesday that some of its music downloads contain digital watermarks [which] allows companies to silently brand music files with identifying information, such as customer- and vendor-identification numbers, digitally woven into the fabric of the song. Those hidden patterns allow music companies to track the origins of music that show up on peer-to-peer sharing sites… watermarks can raise privacy and liability concerns, because a person could be charged for copyright violations if the music appears on file-sharing networks, even if the consumer did not put it there,” Kravets reports. “Of the two major labels participating in Amazon’s music-download service, Universal Music Group uses watermarks, and EMI – for now – doesn’t.”