Music download content to be available via Amazon
Amazon Confirms Digital Music Store Plans, EMI Jumps Aboard. "Every song and album in the Amazon.com digital music store will be available exclusively in the MP3 format without digital rights management (DRM) software," the company stated.
Amazon officially confirmed its intentions to open a digital music store on Wednesday, a disclosure that largely coincides with earlier information. Several weeks ago, executives pointed Digital Music News to an MP3-based destination, one that will launch with or without major label support. That protection-free agenda was reaffirmed by the official Amazon announcement. "Every song and album in the Amazon.com digital music store will be available exclusively in the MP3 format without digital rights management (DRM) software," the company stated. "Amazon's DRM-free MP3s will free customers to play their music on virtually any of their personal devices — including PCs, Macs, iPods, Zunes, Zens — and to burn songs to CDs for personal use." The etailing giant pointed a vague launch date of "later this year," an expanded window that offers more licensing time to holdout labels.
Jumping on board immediately is EMI, which signaled its involvement alongside the broader announcement. The major will offer its entire catalog DRM-free, and tracks will carry higher fidelity levels than conventional, DRM-protected tracks. EMI did not offer details on its pricing plan, though it appears that its downloads will carry an elevated, $1.29 tag. EMI is the first major to join the Amazon play, part of a larger DRM-free initiative. Earlier, the company announced a DRM-free deal involving iTunes, though it remains unclear if the pair will launch this month as planned. EMI is one of 12,000 labels joining the Amazon push, a critical mass that will exert continued pressure on remaining majors to reconsider protection-based strategies. "Our MP3-only strategy means all the music that customers buy on Amazon is always DRM-free and plays on any device," said Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon. "We're excited to have EMI joining us in this effort and look forward to offering our customers MP3s from amazing artists like Coldplay, Norah Jones and Joss Stone."
Posted by staff at May 17, 2007 07:45 AM