Amazon is now selling over 2 million songs in mp3 format. No DRM! This is a great development for online music. Instead of using iTunes, hitting the torrents or newsgroups, I’ll be far more likely to purchase my music here. Check out their top 100 albums for sales (most are $8.99) and you’ll see they have a pretty good selection so far that’s only going to get better.
So why would I use iTunes if I can get the same product without the crappy DRM payload? I wouldn’t but that assumes Amazon will have a comparable selection eventually. It also takes a few extra steps to get non iTunes music on your iPod but it’s still not difficult.
This is a major step forward in online music. I’d like the option to select a specific bitrate but this is a great start. Nice job Amazon for making this happen. Could it be that the music companies are coming around too? Time will tell.
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