Site Presented By
Saturday, Nov 7, 2009
Perhaps this is at last the _real_ competitor to the iTunes throne and keep Apple on its toes. I am an unbashed Apple fanboy and I had various iPods but I rarely use the iTunes Music Store. I am part of that vast majority where most of my music is ripped from my own CD library. On the few occasions I've bought music from iTunes, I've forgotten to "backup" the files and if I delete them or just hose my drive, I have to buy the music again. If I own the CD, I can just rerip. Will the Amazon Music Store allow you to redownload songs you already bought?
eMusic has been offering DRM free music for quite a while now. Of course, there are some reasons not to like eMusic. Mainly, their selection is limited to independent labels and they use a subscription model where you pay a fixed amount per month for a fixed amount of use-em-or-lose-em downloads. Still, the tracks on eMusic are less expensive than even Amazon's tracks.
As for iTunes, I never bothered and I don't believe that Steve Jobs actually cares about DRM. That whole saga just seemed like an excuse for Apple to raise their prices.
No question about it: a viable alternative to iTunes with the Amazon name behind it (a brand that's trusted by just about everyone in the world) can't be anything but a plus. Amazon has undercut Apple's prices as a way of making its presence known; Apple will likely be forced to add features to stay on top; and so forth.
Still, there's stuff I don't get. How are the very same labels that bitched and moaned about Apple's refusal to price anything above 99 cents with DRM restrictions going to be willing to let Amazon sell their stuff for ten cents cheaper and without restrictions? I guess it's already happened with the first two that signed on, but I'm suspicious that some agreement is in place whereby Amazon agrees to jack up the price after a certain amount of time. I guess we'll see.
Sounds like a good deal as I use a Toshiba Gigabeat mp3 player with the open source Rockbox operating system (also available for other players) which I highly recommend.
Traditionally I have usuallly bought CDs so as to have a permanent hard copy, but recently have tried something different.
You can buy a pack of 5 recordable DVDs for only few dollars. Since in 126 kbs mp3 form you can put about 12 CDs on to one CD, you can put about 80CDs onto a single DVD disc as a data disc, thus 400 CDs onto a set of 5 DVDs as a backup for about $5.
I have done this and then sealed the package to be used in emergency. But the real significance of this is that probably that long after I am dead my heirs and descendants will have free access to a collection that includes all the significant music of the big band and swing era, the 100 best jazz albums of all time, and the 50 or so best blues albums of all time.
I also have a collection of over 100 BBC radio shows featuring musicals, film, and dance band music which may also be of interest to future generations.
Others will have fantastic collections of rock and rap to pass on to their heirs. Now that we are in the digital age, music will never be the same again.
Perhaps you can confirm some details of that Amazon Downloader. According to Amazon, you may use it for individual tracks, but you must use it for albums.
Since the downloader is limited to Mac, and Windows XP/Vista, does this mean that anyone running an older version of Windows or any other OS can't buy albums? For the record there are many MP3 players which simply connect as a USB mass storage device - supported by Linux. Even the iPod can be convinced to work with older versions of Windows, although you have to give up on iTunes.
Insisting on Windows or Mac in order to buy albums seems a little at odds with the idea of an MP3 music store.
Amazon is cutting itunes by 10%. Expect itunes to follow.
The iTunes store only exists to help plug the iPod and make it easier for users to get new music onto their iPods without having to go out, buy a CD and rip it. Amazon's store performs the same function, without Apple having to pay for the bandwidth. I'm guessing Jobs is delighted to see another vendor offering DRM-free music. The sooner that becomes the standard, the better for Apple.
I know eMusic isn't as big as iTunes, or even Amazon, but it is the most eclectic and cheapest music provider. Not only does it look for and promote indie labels and artists, it offers a fixed pricing system, with individual songs available for .25 to .50 no matter how long (or short) they are.
Farhad, you'd be much more credible if you were more accurate with your statements.
"Nearly everything you purchase from the store will never work on any device not made by Apple."
Wrong.
"if you want to go mobile, the iPod and iPhone are your only options"
Wrong again.
Any songs one buys through iTunes can be burned to a CD and then the CD's tracks converted into MP3 format for playback on any device that supports MP3s.
Sure it's a workaround, and it may not be convenient. But it's absolutely do-able. And in tech, details matter.
As Farhad points out you can buy the CD DRM free so why would you not buy a cd and rip it. If you wait a month for a used cd of your choice they can usually be had for $5 or $6 with shipping.
What you said about it "feeling right" is so true. I've purchased "The Wall", "Mellon Collie", "Paul's Boutique", "The College Dropout" by Kanye West and a number of singles. Bravo, Amazon.com!
Anon says "Any songs one buys through iTunes can be burned to a CD and then the CD's tracks converted into MP3 format for playback on any device that supports MP3s."
True. But of course that ruins your songs -- burning to MP3s and then ripping back to iTunes decompresses and then recompresses the music, introducing digital artifacts into music.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The Maine fight was supposed to be the dress rehearsal for repealing California's Prop. 8 -- but gay marriage lost
Once one obtains Seriousness credentials in the Washington media, they are irrevocable no matter one's conduct.
Salon headlines in your mailbox
