More details on the Amazon MP3 store

by Brad Linder Aug 31st 2007

As we've noted, Amazon is preparing to launch its online music store the week of September 17th, although the New York Post reports that date is a moving target. Amazon first announced it would be entering the digital music download business earlier this year, although the move had been anticipated for quite some time.

Amazon plans to sell songs as unencrypted MP3 files, with roughly a million tracks from Universal Music and EMI. Universal and EMI have both previously agreed to sell music without DRM, and Universal has severed its relationship with Apple.

While Amazon's music library won't be as large as Apple's, a million songs is nothing to scoff at. And Apple hasn't been doing a great job of holding onto content partners. So while we're going to go out on a limb and predict that Amazon won't topple Apple from it's number one position in the digital music download business, perhaps Amazon can make some headway, even without music from Sony BMG or Warner Music Group.

Oh yeah, and the post is reporting that while final pricing hasn't been set, Amazon may sell MP3s at $.99 for new and popular tracks, and $.89 for "emerging artists and back catalog tracks," with albums selling for $7.99 to $9.99. Apple sells new tracks for $.99 with DRM and $1.29 without it (when available).

Tags: amazon, itunes, music

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