Amazon MP3: a quick review

There is a website that searches over 6,000,000 Non-DRM tracks (not including AmazonMP3, which it says its adding soon) all at once - http://www.songboxx.com . With the addition of AmazonMP3, it'll be a pretty incredible search engine, and THE place to figure out where to purchase non-DRM music on the internet.

Hellooo? All people so impact with amazon mp3 downloader must be purchase US, I'm right? Because just is for citizens of USA. So, please somebody tellme... ¿why to put in the web, whose principle is the international accesibility, a resources exclusive for united staes citizens?

DOn't kill the web, ladys and gentelman, and please please, started to look far away of your noses, how the rest of the world did it.

PD. I'm not US citizens of course, and worse, i'dont speak english (oh my God!) so, excuse me my dreadful orthography, but, in the rest of the world in big thing don't speak english (Thank God!)

Brian Setzer Orchestra's new album - Wolfgang's Big Night Out. Amazon MP3 $8.99 DRM free 256 VBR. iTunes $9.99 DRM 128 AAC. No brainer, looks like some MP3s are getting added to my catalog.

Here is an interesting problem with Amazon's new mp3 download service and the Amazon branded credit card.

When I click to buy an mp3, the song immediately starts downloading and my account is charged. No shopping cart. Okay, that was a surprise that I did not have to verify the purchase, but I kind of got to like how quick it was.

I bought quite a few songs and every time I got the message that the song had downloaded.

Then, next day, I get an email saying that some of my purchases had not gone through because my credit card could not be verified. Odd. I got a download verification that for each purchase.

But, darn it, the files weren't all on my computer. It gets better.

Then I tried to pay for lunch the next day and my Amazon credit card was declined. Really odd.

When I called the Amazon credit card line, they said that my multiple purchases had triggered security and my card was suspended because I had bought too many items consecutively -- using the system Amazon created to make it easy for me to buy multiple items consecutively.

Should someone figure out how to keep this from happening, if they want the store to be a success?

Another advantage to Amazon's MP3 store is that it is accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired using screen readers like Jaws For Windows:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/JAWS_HQ.asp

Itunes and the ipod, due to their user interface, have largely not been readily accessible to people who are blind. Apple, Inc. is often not regarded well in the blind community also, because for instance, the company has recently produced products with touch screen only interfaces that are not accessible. They have not made their products with universal design principles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_design

I'll be discussing the accessible Amazon MP3 service on the next DC Night Out podcast at
http://www.dcnightout.com

If Amazon is DRM free for $0.89 that sounds pretty good considering iTunes Store is $1.29 for a DRM free tune, right?

#6 - AAC is generally considered a more efficient, higher quality compressor than MP3...in other words you need lower bit rates to attain the same sound quality. 256k MP3 does probably sound better (slightly) but at twice the file size.

Price may ultimately be the final factor in the debate here, but with anything but the highest quality earbuds/speakers, and the largest memory containing portable device, the higher bitrate (therefore larger file) purchase may not be the most appropriate or suitable one.

I can't tell the difference between a 128 AAC and 256 MP3 on any of the headphones I use on either my iPhone or iPod (5g). With that in mind, I'd rather get the smaller files. The true audiophile isn't going to be happy with 256k MP3; they'll want at least 320k, and most would never use "lossy" compression anyways, they'll stick to the original CD or a lossless compression (which is huge files).

There's a lot more to consider here than just I get a higher bit rate MP3 file than the AAC.

Bigger isn't always better: It's kind of like saying I'd prefer a 1/2 pound chuck steak for dinner than a 1/4 pound ribeye - the chuck steak's bigger, but it doesn't taste better.

People keep saying "buy" when referring to Amazon (or for that matter iTunes) music store. You are *not* purchasing the song; you are purchasing a right (license) to listen to the song under restricted circumstances. Although there is no DRM to enforce those restrictions, they still exist in principle.

You do not own something if you cannot _sell_ it. And just like with iTunes music, you cannot resell Amazon music, according to the terms of service.

That doesn't mean there isn't value in the service, but you are getting less than what you get with a CD. You can actually buy a CD and then resell it later when you're bored with it. You can rip a CD and move the music to any player you posses. You can lend your CD to friends. You can do none of this, according to the agreement, with iTunes or Amazon music.

Something not yet mentioned (but this is an Apple blog, so no foul): Amazon works with Windows, OSX, and Linux. iTunes does not.

"Amazon can only succeed if they enable direct downloads to my iPod/iTunes."

Poor baby...it's SO DIFFICULT to add a file to iTunes, isn't it? Just drag and drop and it copies the file to your library. Nigh unto IMPOSSIBLE for the average user to comprehend! OR you can use the download tool and it DOES send the music straight to iTunes.

Yep, Amazon's doomed.

As has been hinted at earlier, it's not up to Steve to now get back to work and improve the iTMS - it's not as though he's slipped back and Amazon have overtaken him.

The issue, as always, is the record companies. They're used to being in control and they're scared sh*tless of iTMS because its virtual monopoly takes all the power away from them - "if you want your music on the internet then you have to sell it through us at a price that we set". They're used to being able to set the rules and make other people do what THEY want. iTMS takes that away from them. So they've been very deliberately trying to break iTMS's monopoly over the last year or two - refusing to sign up for non-DRM, withdrawing from their agreements, licensing other smaller sites with better terms & conditions - it's all a plan to reduce Apple's dominance of the download market. Once the market is fragmented and there is no clear leader, then the record companies will have the power back with them to set whatever conditions they like.

If Steve approached the record companies supplying Amazon & offered them the same deal they're getting with Amazon but with a bigger cut for them, they'd probably refuse. Fragmenting the market is a necessary part of their business plan.