Amazon.com has decided to enter the world of digital music downloads. I am not entirely sure why they want to do this but I guess one more player in an already fragmented market is not a big deal. I think Amazon is a good place to buy CDs from so maybe this new foray will work. According to Hypebot:
It is unclear what major label product will be included at Amazon’s launch. It may well be limited to a broadening of the selective experiments we’ve seen in recent weeks plus perhaps some older catalog. Most indies will probably jump on board since many are already offering mp3’s via eMusic and the new Insound mp3 album-only store.
The big differentiator with the possible Amazon store would be variable pricing. This does not seem like something consumers are clamoring for so I am not sure what to make of it. Variable pricing clearly benefits the music sellers. Since the store will only sell DRM-free music, do not expect any songs from major labels. Emsuic seems to be the main competition and not iTunes.
Amazon gets my business because it usually has good prices and free shipping for orders over $25. With digital downloads, I doubt they will be able to undercut the competition. Can they price songs cheaper than 25 cents, which is what Emusic essentially charges? I highly doubt it. Amazon really should sell lossless encoded songs but that does not sound like it is the case. Any new digital music store should focus on two things: DRM-free and lossless encoding. I guess 1 for 2 is not bad.
Sat, Dec 23, 2006
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