Amazon Opens DRM-free MP3 Store

By Nick Mokey Published September 24, 2007

While many small start-ups have tried to topple iTunes Store as the dominant digital music seller, none have had quite the heft of its latest competitor, Amazon. The Seattle-based company introduced the public beta test of its Amazon MP3 music service on Tuesday, which offers a la carte music downloads for 89 or 99 cents per song with no technical restrictions on the use of downloaded songs.

Amazon’s catalog, now at 2 million songs, remains smaller than the 6 million currently available through iTunes, but Amazon’s ace in the hole will be its complete lack of digital rights management on any of its music. Unlike Apple’s proprietary FairPlay DRM, which locks customers into using Apple portable media players in order to listen to the music they’ve paid for, Amazon’s DRM-free tracks will play on any device that handles a run-of-the-mill MP3 file.

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Despite this trusting approach to rights management, Amazon has managed to hash out agreements with many major recording artists to sell their work through Amazon MP3. Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, the Beastie Boys and Radiohead will be among the 180,000 artists initially featured.

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Order a Ring Video Doorbell now and Amazon will throw in a free Echo Dot

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If you're keen to make your home smarter then Amazon has the deal for you this 4th of July. You can snap up a Ring Video Doorbell and get an Amazon Echo Dot entirely for free. The whole package works out at only $80, saving you $50 on the usual price. It's just one of the many great 4th of July sales we're seeing appear.

The all-new Ring Video Doorbell is super useful for so many different scenarios. If you're often working from home but not near your front door, you can check via your smartphone who's knocking. In the same way, you can be out and about at a local store or visiting friends, and receive a notification from Ring giving you a heads-up that someone's calling.