Comments on: Sony BMG signs onto Amazon's DRM-free music store

Amazon MP3, which only sells music without digital rights management copy protection, now has licensing deals with all four major music labels. Watch out, iTunes.

[bommai]

Does Apple have any chance?

I wonder what prevents the labels from licensing the same songs to Apple in DRM-free format. I think they don't want widespread DRM-free songs. If Amazon becomes big, may be they will license to Apple also or yank Amazon's license.

[rocketjam--2008]

re: does apple have any chance

Nothing prevents the labels from letting Apple sell their songs
DRM-free. They don't want to because Apple won't negotiate with
them on price.

After they think they've got enough traction with Amazon sales,
they'll start upping the price on the DRM-free music. It's a ploy to
force Apple to let them raise prices at the iTunes Music Store.

[napacab]

Why buy music at all?

With subscription services like Rhapsody, I'm buying nothing DRM free or not. Why would anyone pay$.99 for a single song when they can have access to millions of songs for less than the cost of one CD per month, listen to them from multiple devices including portable ones?

Yes I know not everything is available but there's enough I can do without those songs that the artists or music conglomerates don't want to make available.

[technewsjunkie]

I prefer to own, not rent.

n/t

[ifiredmyboss.com]

Why?

Because I want to own them and want to move them to other devices that I want. Just like I own my house and not rent.

[john55440]

Amazon.com: Best Legal Music Source, CDs & MP3s

Offering customers the choice of CDs or DRM-free MP3s, Amazon.com is clearly the best legal source of music.

[cfkane]

Restrain the hyperbole..

It seems that everyone forgets that iTunes itself can strip off the DRM from any iTunes download - simply by burning a CD which can then be imported into any other computer (which you should do irregardless). It's really a non-issue.

[DrtyDogg]

On the same lines

you can do that with any purchased music from any store.

[Maclover1]

The big 4 are morons

The iPod and iTunes right now sell more digital music than every other re-seller put together. Cutting them out of the equation directly has got to be the most moronic business decision ever! Especially considering their business is going down the tubes.

Maybe its Apple and Jobs that are demanding certain terms they dont want to give into?

Its simple IMHO. All music should be DRM free. The music companies should get together and set a price across the board for everyone. The the USER chooses whom to buy it from.

I have no problem buying music from Amazon and then using iTunes and my iPod to listen to it.

[M C]

Secret tracking of "unprotected" files?

So, what's the lure to the majors? You know there's GOT to be a catch, and that catch is most likely file-tracking code.

Your purchase that you "lent" to a friend ends up on Limewire? Welcome to lawsuitville!

[tballard--2008]

Apple pushing DRM?

Why do all these CNET articles make it sound like Apple is the
one who instituted DRM when Steve Jobs has been fighting for
DRM-free music for quite some time. This article makes it
sound like DRM-free music is an invention of Amazon.com. This
whole thing is just a ploy by the record labels to weaken the
iTunes Music Store.

I can't imagine that Amazon is making much of anything on
$0.89 a song music downloads unless they have gotten some
pricing breaks from the various music labels. That, in itself,
would only make sense in light of the music labels yanking
Apple's chain. Why else would they lower prices for Amazon
when their main beef with Apple was that they should be
allowed MORE for some songs.

So what we have is the music labels foregoing revenue, just to
prove a point with Apple. Look out, if this strategy succeeds,
you can look forward to paying a lot more for your music down
the road. Jobs understands the consumer pricing model a lot
better than the record labels do, it appears. But then, greed is a
powerful motivating force for the record labels, that's for sure.

[DrtyDogg]

more?

The record labels said they wanted flexibility in pricing not necessarily more money. Apple played the victim in the press, and we are starting to see it now. We are seeing this with TV shows and music now from Amazon.