The Amazon MP3 Music Service has just been released. It is in beta and works quite well. To use it you must agree to the terms of service. You then are allowed to download the client software which is used to retrieve purchased music from Amazon’s servers. Client software is available for both Mac and PC and has been promised for Linux sometime in the future. Linux users can download single items in the interim.
Short previews of available music can be played just as in iTunes. The music, once downloaded, contains no digital rights management. The files are in MP3 format and are encoded at 256 kbps. A typical 3-minute song takes up approximately 5MB of storage space. Album cover art is included with each song you download. Once the download is complete, your music is automatically available in iTunes.
You may not download purchased music more than one time. Music downloads are also not returnable. Once you’ve purchased something from the MP3 service (they allow one download for free) it will show up in your personal media library on Amazon.com’s website. There you can post reviews and share your library with friends.
Amazon’s Mp3 Download Service provides needed competition for iTunes. The fact that the music is DRM free will appeal to many. The pricing is variable and comparable to iTunes. The fact that neither Amazon or iTunes allows you to download your music to more than one computer shows that their is plenty of room for improvement with both services.
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