Amazon’s DRM-Free MP3 Store

Yesterday Amazon launched their highly-anticipated DRM-free music store, a direct competitor to Apple’s iTunes store. The store, called simply "Amazon MP3" offers around 2 million mp3s, most at the low price of 89 cents each (take that, Apple!). The beauty of the store is that your downloads will work on any player and are completely copy-protection free (take that too, Apple!). Unfortunately, a few tracks I searched for were not available. (Raconteurs, Exploding Machines, some Morrissey). Apparently, my tastes aren’t mainstream enough? I found the missing tracks on iTunes instead.  (OK, that’s one for you Apple). The Amazon tunes are downloaded via the "Amazon MP3 Downloader" application, which you must first download and install on your computer. Although I’m not a fan of having to download software whose purpose is to essentially just download a file from the internet, the MP3 Downloader app does make the process of adding your music downloads to your iTunes or Windows Media Player easier, by automatically adding them after purchase, which is a convenient feature. I didn’t even have to configure anything with the software, another plus. Overall, not bad. Add a few more tracks, and I’m sold.