Amazon Launches DRM-Free Music Download Store
Ven - Settembre 28, 2007, 11:56 m.
Tuesday, Amazon announced that they were opening a beta
of Amazon MP3 to the public. All the music on the site is DRM-free (there are
supposedly 2 million tracks on the store), is in VBR MP3 format with an average bit rate of
256 kbps. Album cover art is included with each song download,
too.
This compares very favorably to the iTunes Store: individual tracks are usually priced at 99¢, with some coming in at 89¢ and exceptionally long tracks going for $1.94. (It's worth pointing out that these really long tracks are usually album-only on iTunes, so it's an improvement that you can still buy them separately on Amazon even at the exceptionally high price.) Remember, this is the DRM-free, high quality music, which Apple sells at $1.29 per track. Album pricing is variable, like iTunes, with prices supposedly ranging from $5.99 to $9.99, whereas iTunes sometimes prices albums at higher prices. Also, Amazon "adds its own name and the item number of the song, for customer service purposes," (via the DFLL) but otherwise includes no identifying information, in contrast to iTunes which includes the name and e-mail address with each purchased iTunes Plus track.
Incredibly, Amazon has gotten Universal, one of the other big four labels, to sign on to the service and distribute their music in unprotected files, along with EMI whose music is also on Apple's store in iTunes Plus format.
Funnily enough, of the three stores that now sell DRM-free music, eMusic's tracks are of the poorest quality: they offer VBR MP3s at an average of 192 kbps, Amazon is in the middle at 256 kbps VBR MP3s, and Apple's iTunes Plus tracks are the highest quality at 256 kbps AAC files.
So, to recap: more high-quality, DRM-free music at cheaper prices from Amazon. Life is good. I'll be checking for albums here before buying from iTunes from now on.
This compares very favorably to the iTunes Store: individual tracks are usually priced at 99¢, with some coming in at 89¢ and exceptionally long tracks going for $1.94. (It's worth pointing out that these really long tracks are usually album-only on iTunes, so it's an improvement that you can still buy them separately on Amazon even at the exceptionally high price.) Remember, this is the DRM-free, high quality music, which Apple sells at $1.29 per track. Album pricing is variable, like iTunes, with prices supposedly ranging from $5.99 to $9.99, whereas iTunes sometimes prices albums at higher prices. Also, Amazon "adds its own name and the item number of the song, for customer service purposes," (via the DFLL) but otherwise includes no identifying information, in contrast to iTunes which includes the name and e-mail address with each purchased iTunes Plus track.
Incredibly, Amazon has gotten Universal, one of the other big four labels, to sign on to the service and distribute their music in unprotected files, along with EMI whose music is also on Apple's store in iTunes Plus format.
Funnily enough, of the three stores that now sell DRM-free music, eMusic's tracks are of the poorest quality: they offer VBR MP3s at an average of 192 kbps, Amazon is in the middle at 256 kbps VBR MP3s, and Apple's iTunes Plus tracks are the highest quality at 256 kbps AAC files.
So, to recap: more high-quality, DRM-free music at cheaper prices from Amazon. Life is good. I'll be checking for albums here before buying from iTunes from now on.