Amazon MP3 Store
Most of you know my strong dislike for buying music online, so you might find it funny that I’m posting about a better/easier way to get digital music than going to a record store. This past weekend I ran across a video online of some really cool music and wanted to buy the album… but Cactus Music was a deadend in finding the album. So I fired up iTunes and came very close to buying the album.
Let me rant for a second… I understand that there are legal issues when selling a digital copy of music and no one really wants their music to be stolen all over the internet. The iTunes store has this really strict DRM (Digital Rights Managment) embedded in their files that over the course of years has plagued fans with issues when all they want to do is listen to music. I call myself a true fan of music and the music industry so I try to never steal music, always buy a copy of the CD’s I give away, and get really pissed when I transfer music to another computer and it’s DRM doesn’t let me hear the music I pay for.
Just before buying the album I decided to look around to see if there were any good MP3 sites that had DRM free music that were legal. The thing I love about the iTunes Store is how it seamlessly is a one-click buy and it puts the music right in my iTunes player. How can anyone compete with that? Well, hello Amazon MP3!
Amazon MP3 has it’s famous one-click buy throughout the entire store so that’s a plus. They have a huge selection of music that are priced at $.99 per song (same as the iTunes Store) and whole albums at $8.99 (generally CHEAPER than the Itunes Store). Score again. At this point I’m willing to do the whole manual download and import just becuase it’s an MP3 encoded at 256kbps and no DRM. Here’s where it gets cool. They have this little ap that you install that when you buy the album, it autodownloads all the MP3′s, puts them in the proper Itunes directory and then adds them to your iTunes library. So what you end up with is a one-click DRM free MP3. Rock and Roll.
I really suggest checking out this service. It made a believer out of me and I hate buying music online. As services get closer to a low barrier to online buying of music, the blatant stealing of music will really slow down.
Disclaimer: I wouldn’t feel right without mentioning 2 services that specifically service the Texas/Red Dirt scene. Always checkout OurTracks and Lonestar Tunes first. It may take some manual importing but we’re at least keeping money where it matters.
4 Comments
Kelly on May 27th, 2008
I am also with you guys on this, I still prefer hte disc in hand and liner notes to boot. I will recommend E-music though, for its selection of indie and left of center stuff. Its a subscription service, but you get to keep the drm free mp3′s after your done with the subscription (no contract). If you catch one of their specials at the right time, you can get over 100 downloads for $10-$15. I have discovered some great stuff with the “related artists” feature that has led me to bands I wouldve never heard of if I hadnt checked out a certain band (example: I found out about “2 Cow Garage” because I was downloading some old Slobberbone stuff…jackpot!!)
Phil on May 29th, 2008
I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about the Amazon music store. I have yet to purchase anything off it, but will definitely check out that route next chance I get. As much as I enjoy going into music stores and flipping through the album artwork, it’s hard to beat the convenience of digital music.
transfer i tunes library on July 31st, 2008
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Brady on May 27th, 2008
Like you, I don’t buy music digitally too often, but I like to get it from the Amazon MP3 store when I do. Although, iTunes does have some albums available without DRM; just look for the iTunes Plus designation.