12-21-2006, 05:00 AM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,097
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Amazon to Offer DRM-Free MP3s?
"Late last week Amazon began circulating contracts to labels aiming for a late 1st Q '07 music download store launch. Rumors of an Amazon entry have been circulating all year, but died down as attention shifted first to the URGE launch and then to Microsoft's ZUNE. What is most surprising (and exciting) about Amazon's new store is that the online giant is apparently telling labels that they will only sell DRM free mp3's and will offer variable pricing. As the first major download store launch since Microsoft made it clear with ZUNE that it was not supporting it's own PlayForSure DRM, perhaps Amazon was left with no choice. Yahoo! Music, Napster, URGE and others based on PlayForSure are starting to look like forgotten step-children. Only eMusic has gained real momentum against the iTunes juggarnaut and eMusic sells mp3's. Plus by embracing mp3's, Amazon completely avoids all player compatibility issues by selling in the only format that plays on all devices including the ubiquitous iPod."
DRM-Free MP3s from Amazon? I'm so there. 8) I sure hope this DRM-free trend we're seeing sticks around. Once Amazon starts selling it, it's likely to become a standard, or at least very popular. And I can finally start steering people towards music downloads that I can support. The biggest thing holding everyone I know back is DRM. They're not going to buy digital music that's tethered to one type of player or another (even PFS systems are too limiting). What do you think? Will you start buying digital music from Amazon, or are you happy with your current method?
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