Amazon Starts Selling MP3s

One of the Internet’s biggest vendors just became competition for one of the Internet’s biggest services, as Amazon.com launched a digital music store today, opening with a library of nearly 2.3 million songs according to the Associated Press. Among the library are tracks from Universal and EMI, two major labels, which differentiates Amazon’s store from many other online vendors.

So, what separates Amazon’s digital music store from others like iTunes? Well, for one Amazon is selling mp3s, unlike other more proprietary services. With that mp3 format comes a lack of Digital Rights Management interference. The files are yours to do what you choose with – load them on your iPod or Zune, burn them to CD, or what have you. They aren’t going to ask any questions, and they are hoping the theory of a rise in piracy following unprotected files is just a theory. After all, it’s not like the DRM is doing a lot to curb pirates and hackers from trading homemade mp3s and files that have had the DRM hacked, so companies might as well make a buck off unprotected files.

The second major difference is price. Apple’s iTunes currently offers a standard download for 99-cents, although it’s encoded with DRM. They offer more free tracks for a tad bit more. Amazon, on the other hand, is offering mp3 downloads for 89 to 99 cents, and entire albums for between six to ten bucks as opposed to Apple, which almost always exceeds ten to twelve dollars.

People following Amazon’s recent explosions in the area of digital media can’t help notice that this is the second time in the past few weeks that Amazon has increased their development in areas iTunes has previously ruled the roost, and Universal has been the partner in both of these areas. First Amazon’s Unboxed became the temporary home of NBC’s video (at least until NBC gets their own service kicked off) and now Universal is one of the labels behind this music service.

Meanwhile, other large labels, Warner Brothers Music Group and Sony BMG seem less inclined to leap into the DRM-free foray. The two companies have agreed not to sell their music on Amazon MP3, which means iTunes will maintain some share of the online digital music market, at least for now. Considering some of the scandals Sony has found themselves in due to their dedication towards DRM, I can’t see them straying from that path anytime soon.

Check out Amazon’s new store at Amazon MP3