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Amazon officially announces long-rumored DRM-free music store

arstechnica.com — Amazon announced this morning that it plans to launch a music store later this year that will sell unprotected MP3 files from thousands of record labels.

Who dugg this? Made popular May 16, 2007

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  • vertinox, on 10/11/2007, -3/+67@superpotential

    Because Amazon asked the labels first...
  • h3ndrix, on 10/11/2007, -7/+63I, for one, welcome our new DRM-Free Music Supporting overlords.
  • Panik, on 10/11/2007, -3/+28Cool Beans!!!! I hope the trend continues with the other labels.
  • bilbravo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+23Amazon is dying? Man, that sucks for me because I order probably 3-4 times a month from Amazon... and it's various affiliates. I'll have to let all of my friends and family know, who also order multiple times a month from Amazon.

    On topic to the article, this sounds good. I would rather see ogg/Vorbis, but MP3 is nearly universal. Also, as was stated in the brief article, MP3 virtually guarantees always DRM-free music from this store. I'm not aware of any DRM schemes on MP3s.
  • illwil, on 10/11/2007, -2/+21Based on Amazon's comments, it appears that this music store will sell music encoded in MP3, as opposed to iTunes' AAC, giving the Amazon store an edge that it should exploit (compatible with more devices)

    It will be interesting to see the bit-rate / price-point option that Amazon chooses to sell.
  • bilbravo, on 10/11/2007, -4/+22@superpotential:

    Isn't the allofmp3 argument tired now? Aside from trying to be a smart alleck, you have to obviously realize that this deal with Amazon guarantees revenue to the music labels--which is something they don't get from allofmp3.com. That's why it isn't illegal.

    It's not illegal to sell MP3s. It's possibly illegal to sell them without permission, which I'm sure is the problem with allofmp3.com (in the labels' eyes).
  • arras, on 10/11/2007, -2/+20more stores need to follow suit. I don't need Yahoo, Itunes, MTV or anyone else telling me I can only burn my music X number of times or copy it to this player but not that one and that one needs a firmware update, blah blah blah.
  • Antialias, on 10/11/2007, -12/+28superpotential,

    Amazon is paying the record labels for the music. AllofMP3 doesn't pay the labels/artists for theirs. Plus AllofMP3 is NOT legal if you don't live in russia or another place where pirating music is legal.
  • strictnein, on 10/11/2007, -1/+16Amazon is "desperate"? If by "desperate" you mean "making money and doing well", then yes, you are correct. They grew by over 30% in 2006 to almost $4 billion in revenue.

    Get a clue.
  • daborg, on 10/11/2007, -2/+17Idiot.
  • willistg, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15man, if the selection is better than emusic, I just might go broke.
  • Norweed, on 10/11/2007, -1/+14Amazon is dying? They're having the best year they've ever had and their stock is up 50% in the last 3 months. What are you basing your "amazon is dying" whining on?
  • Spr0k3t, on 10/11/2007, -3/+16As long as the bitrate/quality is good... I'm with it.
  • Dgen_X, on 10/11/2007, -2/+14Yes...it does...

    If you don't like supporting those who are entertaining you


    dick
  • glock22ownr, on 10/11/2007, -2/+12@Norweed :

    He's basing his argument on pixie dust and a magical glitter stick! DUH!!!
  • SPECOPS, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9@ bilbravo - The RIAA didn't get any funds from the ROMS group that governs ALLOFMP3, because the RIAA refused it.
    This is about control/power, more-so than about funds.
  • dropout, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9Amazon just cemented themselves even harder into the huge position they already have in the online market space.

    Big corporations ftw.

    edit: Direct link to press release: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1003003&highlight=
  • Gryffydd, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9You probably don't tip your server at restaurants either, do you?
  • itanshi, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9I think the point is, Amazon is giving 'more' revenue than allofmp3. allofmp3 does give money, much like a radio station which is far less than the companies want.
  • Takfam, on 10/11/2007, -3/+11I think what you audiophiles are overlooking is that most downloaded music is listened to on MP3 players via lowest bidder mass produced headphones. Put on those crappy earbuds and if you can tell the difference between 192 and 320, then you earn the right to bitch about bitrate. Until then, realize that your whining almost makes you sound as bad as people that complain that they can tell the difference in taste between brands of bottled water.
  • cawpin, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8I'll wait and see how much they're going to charge before I get too excited. It will have to be less than iTunes for me to even consider it. iTunes is still too expensive per track. I probably will buy some albums though.
  • doomsquirrel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7I've never bought from iTunes (despite being a Mac nerd) because of the low bitrate AND the DRM - I still prefer the physical media. This would definitely tip it for me.

    However, if they want to be unparallelled by the competition they could provide download access to any album (that is offered by their MP3 store) that you purchase in physical format so you can listen to it while waiting for it to be shipped. Or you could buy it as MP3-only for a couple bucks less. This would give the ultimate convenience of buying online, getting content immediately, and still having the physical media as backup in case of hard drive failure (or just to display on your shelf).
  • MacParrot, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9Actually he orders the food, eats half of it, then excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Then when no one's looking, runs out the back door shouting "FREE! IT'S ALL FREE!"

    Do you work for free too zmig? That's the only excuse I can think of for not paying for content meant to entertain.
  • daborg, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8@crackmonkey: You sound a bit like a child having a tantrum.

    There, there.
  • Ellsass, on 11/05/2008, -0/+6It doesn't exist yet, RTFA.
  • TKDWILSON, on 10/11/2007, -4/+10Verinox- """"""Amazon is paying the record labels for the music. AllofMP3 doesn't pay the labels/artists for theirs. Plus AllofMP3 is NOT legal if you don't live in russia or another place where pirating music is legal.""""


    That is not true.
    1. It is not piracy if it is legal.
    2. Current import laws allow you to import items bought over seas online. Therefore, if you bought MP3's legally in Russia, you can import them to the US by downloading them, and it is all legal. A loophole yes, but still legal.
    3. AllofMP3 pays artists a compulsory fee. Just a VERY VERY small fee. In reality, the artists probably do not get anything, but that is because of a corrupt compulsory lisening department in Russia, and is NOT allofMP3's fault.
    4. It is not piracy in Russia if there is not a Russian version and you pay the licensing fee.
  • cjvino, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Ok, you got me on that one. I actually won the thing in a raffle and use it with my Mac via Parallels. It's not a bad device in and of itself, but the software you have to use to get content on it really, really, really bites.
  • bilbravo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6@TKDWILSON:

    If people who are screaming "DOWN WITH RIAA" and talk of how the artists don't get their fair share know that funds received by allofmp3 probably don't get to the artists, why support allofmp3.com? Honest question, not meant to be smart allecky.
  • FriedTurkey, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7@ddxChrist - I was once a poor college student. We didn't have fancy Internet streams back then. We survived. It made us appreciate the music we did have.
  • pdotnet, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Congratulations RIAA and EMI, now I will buy your music online.
  • Ossuary, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Just because they will have use a non-DRM MP3 format, does not yet mean they will allow any platform to purchase them. I have yet to see one of the companies jumping on the "DRM free" bandwagon say HOW they are going to sell the tracks. It still could require some PC-only purchasing app or ActiveX trash to get to the store. I am hoping the Linux and Mac folks will not be left out.
  • doomsquirrel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4The key is whether their activity benefits the consumer. So far, I can't say I've had anything but positive experiences with Amazon's prices, free shipping, and soon -- DRM free music.
  • XStatic, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4How about some DRM free movie downloads!
  • jasz, on 10/11/2007, -4/+7beautiful... simply beautiful...

    /me grabs his credit card....
  • smackhero, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3i'm curious as to why you think they're struggling. after iTunes, Amazon sales constitute the most of our monthly sales in the monthly reports we receive from our distributor.

    how exactly did Amazon alienate their associates? your comment might make more sense if you actually elaborated on your issue with Amazon rather than trying to insinuate towards something that isn't completely obvious to everyone else. otherwise you just sound really bitter towards Amazon.
  • FriedTurkey, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6Are people who steal (yes I said steal not copyright infringement) music going to have cross out DRM as one of their excuses/rationalizations for stealing music?

    I guess their down to the price thing. If it ever comes to $.01 a song will those people still use it as their excuse?
  • FriedTurkey, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4@smackhero - Your regurgitation of Slashdot from 3 years ago isn't holding water anymore. I am not sure how you "discover" new music when there are a billion songs out there for you to steal. Most of the pirates I know accumulate a million songs and never listen to 1% of it. They really don't appreciate any of it. Usually they are going to listen to Britney Spears or songs they heard of else where. When you buy a CD, you have an investment to give music a chance because you already spent money on it. Most challenging and creative music requires a few listens to really appreciate it. All of the legal download sites have a preview button if you want to decide if you like a song or not.

    Also I don't go to concerts as most people don't. It's really hard to go to a Johnny Cash concert him being dead and all. I don't need to wear my favorite bands on a T-shirt because I really don't care if other people think I am cool or not for listening to an artist.
  • jzp-digg, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3OGG would be better but restriction-free is a major step in the right direction.
  • trparky, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Unfortunately you know the price will change but not in the direction you think it's going to change.
  • glock22ownr, on 10/11/2007, -6/+9Sweet!! I just nuked my Crapster subscription cause I got sick of it losing tracks, telling me I don't have rights to my files, and effing me over w. DRM ***** in general. Guess I know where I'm buying my music from now on.
  • Novagenesis, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I better start liking EMI. Once they make good on the promise to sell everything as mp3s (and if the rate is reasonable), I'll be doing some purchasing specifically to show my support for that decision.
  • profile14, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2If you read the press releases from EMI and Amazon, they consistently refer to EMI's "digital catalogue." Then notice the bands that are named "Coldplay, Norah Jones and Joss Stone." Wouldn't you think that if EMI was making all of its music available it might have mentioned some of their other artists like, oh, I don't know, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd....
  • unitedkronos, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2You have 100 friends?
  • jtjdt, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4I'd rather buy a CD from Amazon, then rip it in whatever format I want.
  • Aleman360, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2If you want to strip the DRM from your iTunes purchases, google QTFairUse6.

  • exscind, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Amazon knows the price point will play a huge role in user acceptance. The iTunes standardized price points are ingrained into the music-buying public, so I wouldn't be surprised to see that familiar $.99/song structure, and not more than $1.29.

    The problem with this structure is that it lends itself well to singles or EP's, but paying $10 or more for an album of mp3's is ludicrous.
  • ddxChrist, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3To be honest, yes. As a college student, DRM and price are the main issues preventing me from buying music. Being relegated to internet radio gets annoying after awhile. Until the price becomes reasonable and the medium without hindrances (I want to use it, for crying out loud!), I'll have to scour the netwaves for moderately enjoyable trance stations.
  • Gryffydd, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3And so pointless.
    99.99% of the population have neither the ears nor the stereo system to do better than CD quality music any justice.
  • pfferreira, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Great! Let's hope the cost is reasonable...I would love to be able to buy DRM-free music for $1, but I have an itchy feeling that this is going to cost a lot more than iTunes. This or we'll get crappy-quality mp3s...

    Anyone know the cost?
  • smackhero, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3actually, i'm pretty sure that our label wasn't consulted by Amazon about this move any more than they were about allofmp3's dealings.

    the difference is that we actually get paid by our distributor for each amazon download sale, just like we do for their CD sales. but this is all handled by our distributor, not by us directly.

    it would be nice if we could cut out our distributor, Megaforce, which is a member of the RIAA, but unfortunately for a small indie label like us, signing with a much larger RIAA label as our distributor is the only way to have access to the kind of extensive nationwide and international distribution that we enjoy. we have to pay out a percentage of our sales to them, but at the same time we enjoy much better distribution than our larger competitors like metal blade, who handle all of their own distribution.
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