The newly established Amazon MP3 Store is changing the way many people browse and purchase music online. Unlike their biggest rival, iTunes, Amazon distributes music in higher quality 300 KBS MP3 format, which includes NO Digital Rights Management protocols. This allows the end-user to transfer music files from one computer to another, to an iPod or other MP3 player, or even burn tracks to an audio CD or CD ROM as often as they like.
Amazon’s open MP3 policy has already been attracting a substantial number of online music consumers, and Thursday’s announcement that Sony BMG would partner with the Amazon MP3 store to offer unprotected music files creates even more momentum for the new Amazon store. It also is a serious blow to Apple’s iTunes, which continues to use “protected” MP3s, limiting the user’s ability to copy and transfer music.
The Sony BMG music catalog is vast, and includes artists such as Foo Fighters, Justin Timberlake, and Bruce Springsteen. The inclusion of Sony BMG music on the Amazon MP3 store pretty much seals the deal, so to speak. Amazon.com will now be the only major player online to sell music and media from every major company in an unprotected high-quality MP3 format.
Additionally, every track listed on the Amazon MP3 store site can be previewed before purchasing, and just as with iTunes, single tracks may also be purchased from any album. The 300 KBS MP3 format is also a big advantage for Amazon, as it provides a significant quality improvement over standard 128 KBS MP3’s.
The higher-quality format, and the absence of any so-called digital rights management encoding has already made the new Amazon store a popular destination online. The addition of the Sony BMG music catalog should only solidify their position as a real contender in the online music distribution industry, and the only serious threat to iTunes continued domination.
Although Apple’s iTunes has sold a reported 3 billion plus songs to date, most of the music purchased on iTunes can only be played on Apple devices, such as the iPod. iTunes also sells single tracks for $.99, compared to Amazon which offers a variable pricing structure which includes many tracks for $.89.
The Sony BMG/Amazon partnership represents a breakthrough of sorts in online digital media sales. This is the first time one distributor — Amazon.com — has offered a complete media library, including all the major music labels, that is unencumbered by Digital rights Management protection. Finally — someone is doing online music distribution right.
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