Amazon buys indie music site Amie Street

By Geoff Duncan Published September 8, 2010

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Online retailing giant Amazon.com has acquired independent music site Amie Street—although apparently Amie Street itself wasn’t the target of the acquisition so much as the beta music streaming service Songza, which was acquired by Amie Street back in 2008.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Amazon has been a long-time investor in Amie Street.

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Amie Street has never been one of the larger online music services, but earned strong loyalty from its users for initially offering DRM-free tracks for free then increasing the price as the download count climbed. The strategy encouraged users to come back to the site early and often for the best deals, and the service also offered music discovery and social networking features. Amie Street acquired Songza back in 2008; currently in beta, Songza enables users to create their own online radio stations based on their own and their friends’ shared interests.

As part of the acquisition, Amazon will be shutting down Amie Street: the site will go offline as of September 22, and customers should be sure to download their purchased music prior to that date. Current Amie Street customers will also receive a $5 credit on the Amazon.com MP3 store that will be valid through December 1.

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Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

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