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Amazon Music

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Amazon Music
Pricing model$0.89–$0.99 per song, variable pricing per album
AvailabilityU.S. only

Amazon MP3 is a digital music store owned and operated by Amazon.com. Launched in public beta on September 25, 2007,[1] in January 2008 it became the first music store to sell music without digital rights management (DRM) from the four major music labels (EMI, Universal, Warner Music, and Sony BMG), as well as many independents.[1][2][3][4] All tracks are sold in 256 kilobits-per-second variable bitrate MP3 format without per-customer watermarking or DRM. Music can only be sold to customers in the United States.

Catalog availability

At launch, Amazon offered "over 2 million songs from more than 180,000 artists and over 20,000 labels, including EMI Music and Universal Music Group," to customers located in the United States only.[1] In December 2007 Warner Music announced that it would offer its catalog on Amazon MP3[2] and in January 2008, Sony BMG followed suit.[3][4] The current catalog is over 5 million songs.[5]


In January 2008, Amazon announced plans to roll Amazon MP3 out "internationally."[6] Until February 2008, international users had been able to purchase music by entering a U.S. billing address for their credit cards. Amazon now limits international access by checking users' credit card issued country.

Downloader

Amazon MP3's catalog is accessible from the Amazon.com web site by searching for an artist or title name. To download purchased music, Amazon.com offers the Amazon MP3 Downloader which is optional for individual tracks and required for album purchases. The Downloader is available for Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS X 10.4 or higher, and Linux (packages are provided for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and openSUSE). It saves purchased music into a particular folder and can, at the user's discretion, add purchased tracks to the library in Windows Media Player (Windows only) or iTunes (Windows and Mac OS X only) automatically after download.

Promotions

On February 1, 2008, Pepsi introduced a Pepsi Stuff promotion in partnership with Amazon MP3.[7][8] Customers can exchange points offered on 4 billion Pepsi bottles for, among other prizes, MP3 downloads from Warner, EMI, and Sony BMG (though not Universal).

Rockstar Games' 2008 title Grand Theft Auto IV connects to Amazon MP3. Players can dial a special number on the main character's mobile phone while listening to a song on the radio. In the game, the character will receive a text message on his phone indicating the title and artist. Players can also sign up on Rockstar's web site to receive e-mail outside the game containing a link to buy marked songs from Amazon MP3.[9]

Reaction

Initial reaction to Amazon MP3 was generally positive. The Unofficial Apple Weblog praised the lack of DRM especially given that track prices were cheaper than iTunes Plus songs at launch, but the reviewer considered the user experience better in iTunes than on the Amazon web site.[10] Om Malik of GigaOM also praised the lack of DRM and the high bitrate but disliked the need to install another application to download albums. Overall, the reviewer said "…I think it makes sense for everyone to browse the Amazon store before hitting the 'buy' button on iTunes."[11]

A study by Elliot Van Buskirk of Wired News's Listening Post blog investigated whether Amazon MP3 was watermarking tracks with personally identifiable information. Van Buskirk quoted an Amazon spokesperson as saying, "Amazon does not apply watermarks. Files are generally provided to us from the labels and some labels use watermarks to identify the retailer who sold the tracks (there is no information on the tracks that identifies the customer)." The study concluded that although tracks may be watermarked to indicate that they were purchased on Amazon MP3, there is no data to indicate which specific customer purchased a given MP3 file.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c Amazon.com Launches Public Beta of Amazon MP3
  2. ^ a b Leeds, Jeff (December 28, 2007). "Amazon to Sell Warner Music Minus Copy Protection". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b "Amazon Adds Fourth Major Record Label To DRM-Free Music Store". InformationWeek. January 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b "Sony Drives Another Nail in the D.R.M. Coffin". New York Times. January 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Amazon stated in a recent widget release 5m catalog
  6. ^ Amazon to Begin International Rollout of Amazon MP3 in 2008
  7. ^ Amazon, Pepsi Team For Super Bowl MP3 Giveaway
  8. ^ Amazon, Pepsi Prep Massive MP3 Promotion
  9. ^ "GTA IV Unveils New Music Download Model". Yahoo!. 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  10. ^ Amazon MP3: a quick review
  11. ^ Amazon MP3 vs. Apple iTunes: Where Should You Shop?
  12. ^ Some of Amazon's MP3 Tracks Contain Watermarks
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