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September 25, 2007

Game On: A Real Alternative To iTunes

Michael Arrington

52 comments »

It may have taken Amazon a few years, but they got it right: their new music store is DRM free and songs, starting at $0.89/track, are cheaper than at Apple’s iTunes. The top 100 best-selling albums are priced no higher than $8.99.

Songs are delivered in MP3 format, meaning they’ll work on any music player, including the iPod. The store opens with 2 million songs from 80,000 artists represented by 20,000 labels. EMI and Universal are on board. The other major labels have no real choice at this point but to follow, and soon.

A software download is required to actually get songs to your hard drive, but it’s available for both Windows and Mac (with Linux coming). That’s good news - DRM requirements forced Amazon to make their movie download service work only with Windows machines.

Average quality is very high - 256 kbps, which is what iTunes uses for non-DRM songs as well.

  • Sphere It

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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Comments

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  1. lawrence

    September 25th, 2007 at 12:57 pm

    undercutting apple by 10%, i like that;
    but what’s even sexier is something called morpheus - it undercuts apple by 100%

  2. Michael Arrington

    September 25th, 2007 at 12:58 pm

    Apple charges $1.29 for non DRM songs, so their discount is actually much more than 10%.

  3. gilltots

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:09 pm

    wait why do you need client-side software to download the songs? that’s awfully fishy.

  4. MarkB

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:14 pm

    gilltots: probably makes delivery (and ensuring you’ve paid for it rather than received a link from a buddy? or you can only download once?) easier.

    Unfortunately it seems this is US only? Dammit to hell.

  5. mathew johnson

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:15 pm

    @3: so amazon can brick your machine if you copy the song to too many devices or something - just kidding. . .

    i think the amazon store is a fantastic idea - i am happy to pay for music - as long as i get to actually own music. i buy lots of things from amazon for slightly more money than other places - because i know and trust their service and convenience. the amazon store is potentially much more convenient than bittorrent for getting music which is not heavily especially popular and heavily seeded - that is totally worth the amazon price premium over free stolen music.

  6. Alex

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:16 pm

    This is perfect for users like me. The 256 bit rate and mp3 format are just what I was waiting for from online music purchases. The client is strange, but it does allow direct iTunes integration. It should be optional and it should allow direct album browsing/sampling. I suspect its some kind of stepping stone that got pushed out the door early.

  7. N.Cauldwell

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:17 pm

    Do Amazon offer a higher bitrate? I occasionally use iTunes Music Store, but I’ve never liked buying into 128kbps tracks…

  8. N.Cauldwell

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:18 pm

    I’ll learn to read.

  9. Jesse

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:27 pm

    I just used it to buy Spoon’s new album and it’s great. Except for selection, why would I ever use iTunes over this?

  10. gilltots

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:31 pm

    well after reading the terms of service that come with the download client, it looks ok…like they really are just trying to make it easier for you to get the songs and import them into your music libraries. and you’re free to copy the songs to your devices, as long as you don’t give them to anybody else.

  11. Word Hugger

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:35 pm

    Good deal. It did take them a bit longer than expected. I bet they will open a streaming video site 2 years from now to compete with youtube.

  12. CD

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:41 pm

    They definately got it right indeed. I think this service will grow like wildfire and it will put pressure on Apple. So much for the iTunes monopoly. I’m very psyched.

    Still think the price needs to come down a tad bit. $0.49/track and $3.99/(new)album seems like the sweet spot to me. it’s just a datafile (with basically no fulfillment costs). So all they need to do is recoup production/marketing budgets.

    I’m glad to see Amazon take leadership here and try to break on through this DRM debate. I wonder how we’ll be able to track business performance for Amazon? I’m sure the other labels will just sit on the sidelines until there is a comfort level that there’s enough demand to be DRM-free. Then maybe the Movie industry will follow, but that’s a different usage model.

  13. Darren Stuart

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:43 pm

    you don’t need the software to download the tunes. damn shame its US only again… in this day and age its stupid.

  14. Sendar

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:44 pm

    For the European ppl is it quite a discount to what they usually pay on iTunes. Because we can buy the songs for US rates and that is for the moment very low.

  15. Stephen Lev

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:52 pm

    Just for the record, 256AAC is much higher quality than 256MP3.

  16. Kevin

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:53 pm

    How are they going to make money?

    It is widely thought that Apple makes next to nothing on songs they sell - they make their money on the iPods. Amazon is selling cheaper songs without that other revenue stream…

  17. Bill Novak

    September 25th, 2007 at 1:56 pm

    Not hardly Amazon. After navigating through the slow and clunky interface, I purchased the 50 Cent “Curtis” album. Here we are 20 minutes later and the Amazon MP3 Downloader is only at 50% downloaded.

    Slow purchase process, slow downloads. I’ll pay an extra 30 cents any day.

  18. HAB

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:01 pm

    You, and the rest of the media, leave out a critical piece of information.

    Should you lose your drive (just had one crash last week), or accidently delete your songs… Amazon will not allow you to re-download it. iTunes does and that insurance is more than worth it when you have a few thousand songs in your inventory.

    Oh, and peruse the cheap songs - hardly any that I *would* buy… so great, Yanni’s Greatest Hits are all $0.89 - like I give a rip about him. The “sale” should be labeled “stale”.

    What I do like about the site is that everything is 256K, which hopefully will push iTunes step up as well.

  19. Deals and Coupons

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:02 pm

    Good for Amazon!

  20. Captain Obvious

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:07 pm

    eMusic has been a ‘real’ alternative to iTunes for quite some time. And it’s a better deal than Amazon.

  21. moosic

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:07 pm

    I like the Amazon experience. So much beter than that piece of s**t gbox you reported on last month.

    Selling mp3s is a GOOD THING for everyone.

  22. Jason Sperske

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:09 pm

    They have Radiohead!
    -Jason

  23. Rikostan

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:13 pm

    Great News!

    Oh yeah and as others have said you do not need to install the software to download music. It works just fine without it.

  24. Greg

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:29 pm

    256 mp3 is a bit of a disappointment :( it makes this service bad for downloading music for DJing. 320kbps would be the killa offer!

  25. randy

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:30 pm

    Hopefully, eventually, this will force iTunes (Apple) will lower their prices.

  26. randy

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:31 pm

    The software download is just to make it easier for non-techie people to get the mp3’s into their libray (ie itunes). I think its great.

  27. randy

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:34 pm

    @kevin
    Apple makes money from iTunes. Why else would they go to the trouble of making it possible to buy music directly from the iPhone and the Touch. Apple is raking it in.

  28. Adi

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:38 pm

    Wow, that great. I think selling MP3 is never dead until 2012.

  29. Greg

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:39 pm

    one more thing missing - push it to my TiVo from Amazon automatically :)

  30. Echo

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:40 pm

    I aggre with you Adi. This is like selling peanut on street. Everybody love peanut…

  31. planter

    September 25th, 2007 at 2:56 pm

    all your peanut are belong to us

  32. cgpublic

    September 25th, 2007 at 3:05 pm

    After briefly checking out the interface, I must say I’m not impressed. What I love about iTunes is that it provides a pleasurable browsing experience and facilitates exposure to new artists and music. It’s worth the premium for me, but I can certainly understand those who may want to save ten cents per track migrating to Amazon for certain purchases.

  33. greggman

    September 25th, 2007 at 3:19 pm

    I’m willing to pay MORE not to be tied to Apple only hardware. MP3s run on anything. AAC does not. Since they are both DRM free and MP3s I can buy them for my iPod knowning that I can also use them in my car, on my 360, on my PS3, on my PSP, on my cell phone, etc etc etc..

  34. Don Jones

    September 25th, 2007 at 3:35 pm

    2 million songs is too few for me. I’ve been to the other music sites and the site that has the less-traveled music is iTunes, which comes in at 6 million. The other sites are far less comprehensive - I guess they’re OK if you’re into Britney…

  35. Suresh

    September 25th, 2007 at 3:51 pm

    Apple’ non-drm .aac tracks works only with iPod whereas mp3 works with all digital players

  36. Bob Caswell

    September 25th, 2007 at 4:04 pm

    Considering I used to purchase CDs via Amazon anyway (can’t stand DRM), now I’ll just be purchasing the MP3s directly. My first experience was an album that would have been $9.99 as a CD but was only $7.99 as a download!

  37. airj1012

    September 25th, 2007 at 5:12 pm

    This is really interesting and it’ll help out the industry. Competition is always good, it’s what drives continuous improvement.

    I do like that Amazon has upped the kbs but I’m not sure if 256kb is really the answer. I’m a huge fan of VBR. You have the high kbs where you need it and very low ones where its not needed. You get a very good sound without the HUGE file size. As someone stated above, the download time was pretty bad.

    We’ll see what comes in the next few months but I bet Apple will do something to answer.

  38. sean coon

    September 25th, 2007 at 5:34 pm

    ok, this is great pressure on iTunes to drop the drm and their prices, but how does this help the independent artist?

    michael, have you heard anything about amazon planning to integrate their investment in amie street with this new service?

  39. Bob

    September 25th, 2007 at 6:43 pm

    interesting on the advertisement, the first player is an ipod

  40. phenom

    September 25th, 2007 at 7:42 pm

    wow that’s cheap…interesting
    http://vidsonly.blogspot.com

  41. Steve Ballmer

    September 25th, 2007 at 9:08 pm

    If they suceed at killin’ iTombs I’ll buy Amazon and roll it into the xBox live thing!
    http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

  42. Michael

    September 25th, 2007 at 9:34 pm

    At least they have a sense of humour, their free test song that you get with the downloader is from “The Apples In Stereo” ;-)

  43. Mark

    September 25th, 2007 at 10:08 pm

    New House M.D. Soundtrack
    Amazon $6.99 complete, iTunes only 3 songs currently available $0.99 cents each. Winner Amazon!… Thank goodness for competition, it’s about time. :-)

  44. fred wilson

    September 26th, 2007 at 3:26 am

    it’s awesome. i love amazon a little more every day and apple a little less

    fred

  45. Don

    September 26th, 2007 at 4:55 am

    taken from the Amazon software downloader terms of serrvice:

    6.1 Termination; Amendments. Your rights under this Agreement will automatically terminate without notice from us if you fail to comply with any of its terms. In case of such termination, you must cease all use of the Software and Digital Content, and we may immediately revoke your access to the Service without notice to you and without refund of any fees. Our failure to insist upon or enforce your strict compliance with this Agreement will not constitute a waiver of any of our rights. We may amend any of this Agreement’s terms at our sole discretion by posting the revised terms on the Service’s website. Your continued use of the Service, the Software or the Digital Content after any such amendment’s effective date evidences your agreement to be bound by it.

  46. Don

    September 26th, 2007 at 4:58 am

    Sorry, one more… This time with extra special “Don’t you dare share that MP3″ warnings.

    6.2 Third-Party Beneficiaries. Digital Content copyright owners are intended third-party beneficiaries under this Agreement and may enforce this Agreement against you.

    Has anyone done any kind of examination of the downloaded songs to see if they are watermarked in some way?

  47. Jorge

    September 26th, 2007 at 7:38 am

    Don,

    1) This doesn’t mean that you have to stop using the downloaded music. You’ve already paid for it. It does mean you have to stop using the downloader, and the online service to download songs.
    2) 3PBs cannot be precluded from enforcing their copyrights against you if you distribute their songs. That’s what it says.
    3) The songs are not watermarked. If you’re really worried about that, just re-encode using LAME, and it will destroy the watermark.
    4) Have you ever read the iTunes TOS? It’s even worse.

  48. jseles

    September 27th, 2007 at 6:23 pm

    AmazonMP3 and Amazon Unbox are 2 great services but they are only available in the U.S. What about us here in Canada ? I can’t wait to get access to these cool features.

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