Idolator
It doesn't seem to be linked from the online store's homepage—instead, it was announced via a 3 a.m. PDT post on the site's music blog—but Amazon's MP3 store appears to be live, albeit in the hedging-bets "beta" format.
The store's catalog appears to be pretty robust for the labels that are participating (recent Universal Music Group releases Graduation and Curtis are both available, as are all the EMI albums that have been sold via Apple's DRM-free iTunes Plus initiative; there are also a few out-today releases sprinkled within ); Amazon is claiming that 180,000 artists and 20,000 labels are participating. The actual purchasing process for getting a song is pretty painless (I bought "Bette Davis Eyes" after four clicks, including sign-in), with Amazon "suggesting" that users incorporate their download manager into the purchasing process. (Apparently the download manager is required if you want to buy a full album, something which I haven't tried yet.) MP3s average 256 Kbps, and the customer agreement does stress that users can't swap the files, although surely someone's tried to do so already.
One quirk: Amazon seems to be really into telling users how much they'll save by buying the album, and not individual songs (Curtis' savings come out to $5.25; Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga's is $0.81). A sop to the participating labels or a "customer-focused" idea? Either way, I'll be playing with the store more throughout the day.
Amazon.com MP3 Downloads [amazon.com]
Comments
A coherent post this early?
I guess the party wasn't all that great.
@Charlie Kerfelds Jetsons Tee: Vitamin Water ... Vitamin Water.
@maura: Ah. I read you loud and clear.
Hell, skip over the Vitamin Water and go right for the Pedialyte.
They have the entire Radiohead library. Isn't that like a huge deal?
I just bought Siouxsie's "Kiss Them For Me." Pretty good shopping experience, although I suppose it adds the extra step of manually loading the track into iTunes, if you indeed use iTunes.
@extracrispy: Why would it be? Radiohead fans (myself included) are usually dorky enough to buy every release they can possible get their hands on.
I doubt they'll be huge sellers in the digital market.
Who knows, though? They could choose to release everything from here on out via digital marketplaces. Stranger things have happened.
@extracrispy: I haven't been there yet. Is it track by track or album only? Zune Marketplace and 7digital have both had them for a little while (7digital as DRM-free), but only as full-album downloads.
Single track purchasing would be a big deal... though I guess straightforward "cash for music" in the US would be something as well (damn you, Zune!)
@extracrispy: 7Digital had it first (and at a slightly better bitrate, I believe).
@Halfwit: It's album-only.
@maura: 1 minute turnaround time on the response? Wow, it IS a slow news day!
Today's top MP3 artist is The Apples in Stereo! If only it would stay that way forever.
Update from the world of variable pricing: "Echoes" by Pink Floyd goes for $3.97 for the one track.
@Halfwit: Hahahaa.
I've been griping about the delays for this store as much as anyone, but it looks like it may have been worth the wait. It looks good for a store still in beta.
Sony and Warner will continue to be idiots and hold onto their DRM, but I easily see myself buying my indie songs from eMusic and mainstream stuff from Amazon. That's important considering I've hardly purchased any mainstream music since joining eMusic a year and a half ago (though, I've sometimes wanted to). Screw the rest.
Wonder when they'll start selling used MP3 files, because I have a shitload.
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