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Amazons Drm Free Music Store

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by Kevin Maney
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May 16 2007 12:00am EDT

Amazon's DRM-free Music Store

This just in: Amazon.com says it will launch an on-line music store later this year, where ALL the songs will be MP3s that are DRM-free. That means no restrictions on the songs at all. Play them in iPods, Zunes or any other player, burn them to CDs, open them with any music software.

Part of the announcement today is that EMI will participate, offering its entire digital music catalog on Amazon as DRM-free MP3s. That makes EMI the first major label to open up its catalog to DRM-free distribution. Its artists include Coldplay, Norah Jones and the entire Paul McCartney solo catalog.

An Amazon DRM-free store has been anticipated for a while, and industry watchers predict it will be a "game-changer." No doubt Apple, which has made a lot of noise about DRM, will be close behind.

The industry has to do something to goose on-line sales. Despite the success of devices like the iPod, selling music on-line has basically been a bust so far.

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