Finally! iTMS has a real competitor now...

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Amazon.com announced today their Amazon MP3 service which features DRM-free music that can be played on your iPod. Prices are .89 per song (versus 1.29 for iTunes) and albums seem to be a good deal.



http://home.businesswire.com/portal/...10&newsLang=en



The service supports both Mac OS X and Windows. Check them out...



http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=gw_br_mp...pf_rd_i=507846



Dave

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    Operating system independent, actually.



    There is one feature that doesn't currently work outside OS X and Windows and that is buying full albums. I wonder why they can't just do a direct browser download for full albums as well.



    Go Amazon! <3
  • Reply 2 of 13
    About !#$%^ time! I'm surprised it took Amazon this long to come up with this scheme to sell music online.



    By the way, I'm glad they're using 256 kbps VBR encoding for the MP3 file, since that gets very good sound quality (the only way to tell the difference compared to the original is with high-end stereo equipment that costs WAY more than the average consumer could afford).
  • Reply 3 of 13
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SactoMan01 View Post


    About !#$%^ time! I'm surprised it took Amazon this long to come up with this scheme to sell music online.



    By the way, I'm glad they're using 256 kbps VBR encoding for the MP3 file, since that gets very good sound quality (the only way to tell the difference compared to the original is with high-end stereo equipment that costs WAY more than the average consumer could afford).



    it is just like itunes, but without drm. hello, isn't this and the prices the reason universal ditched?



    doesnt seem like its any different. i think universal is just on a power play.



    and the amazon method is pretty much what apple was doing, but with DRM because that is what studios demanded. funny how they will let amazon not do it, but make apple do it.



    i like amazons approach because it seems fair. mac and windows and in the MP3 standard, which everything can play. pretty awesome. the whole industry should have been doing this since day one. the only reason they haven't is because of greedy music companies and companies like MS who want to force you to use Windows media and exclude macs.



    itunes complied with music labels to drm tracks and they did. it worked great. then one brave label went drm free and it was great too. now amazon is doing it too. score one for the consumer. apple started this game and i am sure they will continue to lead it. and i will be supporting them all the way. it is easy to jump on the bandwagon, but apple has been pushing for this since before it was popular.
  • Reply 4 of 13
    Good stuff. Looks promising.
  • Reply 5 of 13
    sc_marktsc_markt Posts: 1,401member
    Now that this Amazon service is in operation, I think Apple should start selling tracks for ALL MP3 players. I don't see much to fear by doing this.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    Wow, I'll have to check it out. If Amazon can get other major lablels to go DRM-free, this store combined with eMusic (for all my indie needs) will eliminate all need to use the iTMS altogether.
  • Reply 7 of 13
    Frankly I don't have a problem with iTunes so the mere presence of a competitor means nothing. I will not switch from iTunes until there's a clear superior choice.
  • Reply 8 of 13
    Is anyone aware of whether this service is available to the UK ? The Amazon.co.uk site does not have it. I have read somewhere that residents outside of the USA have successfully purchased from it, but not sure if they did a fudge and used a US postal address or som other such workaround to get the store to accept their purchase ?



    From what I have seen and read this looks to be the first real good alternative to iTunes Music Store ( if you discount the potentially illegal options such as AllofMp3 )



    --

    Scott

    http://ukmac.net
  • Reply 9 of 13
    idaveidave Posts: 1,283member
    I wish Amazon had chosen the superior AAC format. Most worthwhile players will play AAC. MP3 is so last-century.



    They should have gone with a more compact bit-rate like 192kbps. 256k takes up a lot of unnecessary space on an iPod and on a computer.



    I may continue buying DRMed iTS albums for these reasons. (Sounds like a lot of people are happy with Amazon's choices though.)
  • Reply 10 of 13
    There's an in-depth review of the Amazon MP3 Download Store here for those still unsure of it:





    Real iTunes killer: Review of Amazon's DRM-less music download store




    "The Amazon MP3 Download Store is absolutely great. Even in it's beta stage I can confidently call it the best online download store - period.



    Simply the fact that it offers its vast selection of music without DRM makes it better than iTunes, and iTunes doesn't stand a chance when it comes to pricing. There's also no monthly fee, a feature that gives eMusic great value but forces you to pay the fee up front every month, which could easily go to waste as my problem with eMusic is that I could hardly find anything of interest to me."
  • Reply 11 of 13
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iDave View Post


    I wish Amazon had chosen the superior AAC format. Most worthwhile players will play AAC. MP3 is so last-century.



    They should have gone with a more compact bit-rate like 192kbps. 256k takes up a lot of unnecessary space on an iPod and on a computer.



    I may continue buying DRMed iTS albums for these reasons. (Sounds like a lot of people are happy with Amazon's choices though.)



    I still think Amazon wisely chose to use MP3 format because just about every portable media player device out there supports this format. AAC may be great, but many low-end portable media players don't support the AAC format, even new ones.
  • Reply 12 of 13
    kennywrxkennywrx Posts: 141member
    I just hope this gives Mr. Jobs a lesson.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    idaveidave Posts: 1,283member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SactoMan01 View Post


    I still think Amazon wisely chose to use MP3 format because just about every portable media player device out there supports this format. AAC may be great, but many low-end portable media players don't support the AAC format, even new ones.



    I see your point but if vendors didn't let formats die, we'd all still be listening to 8-track tapes. It's a shame to see the MP3 format perpetuated.
Sign In or Register to comment.