Amazon MP3
Tue Mar 11, 2008 19:45 (UTC -5)Has anyone used Amazon MP3? The idea of having an online store with DRM-free music from all four major labels and many independent ones is big. Really big. I want to know what people’s experiences with it are.
I quit eMusic a few months ago. It wasn’t really for me. Between its monthly pricing scheme and narrow selection, I found myself in a rush to get my monthly allotment out of the way. I had the cheapest plan: $9.99 a month for 30 tracks. I’m not a voracious music fan who buys two or three albums a month; I just get a catchy song stuck in my head once in a while and feel the need to add it to my collection. Therefore, paying for individual tracks would be better for me. And, of course, no DRM. That’s a must.
Unless you’re downloading a whole album, Amazon MP3 charges by the track. They seem to be in the range of $0.89 to $0.99 (USD). Albums typically go between $5.99 and $9.99, but to get that pricing, you need to use Amazon’s downloader, which is now available for the most popular Linux distributions as well as Windows and Mac.
(The only issue I would seem to have is that to get the special album pricing, you need to use a program that probably isn’t free software. But I don’t think it’s that much of an issue because I’m already using proprietary wireless and graphics drivers as well as a proprietary BIOS. To shun Amazon’s downloader would be hypocritical.)
So, have you used Amazon MP3? Did they have everything you wanted? Did you use it to discover new things? How is it on your wallet? Did you run into any technical problems? I want to know.
And now, the links.
Check out The Evolution of Tech Companies’ Logos. Microsoft’s original logo was groovy!
Scientology kills. Read all about it.
Here’s a New York Times chart showing the adoption of new technologies over the past century. It’s plain to see that people pick up on new technologies faster than they did 100 years ago.
5 comments
#1 by Kirsten: Tue Mar 11, 2008 22:57 (UTC -5)
I’m interested to see if anyone has used it. I’ve seen it on more and more albums lately, and it would be a great way to legally augment the iTunes selection. Not that I do illegal downloads or anything. Nope, not me.
#2 by Luke: Tue Mar 11, 2008 23:39 (UTC -5)
The subscription model is perfect for me because without it I would have trouble keeping tabs on how much I was spending.
#3 by Mark: Wed Mar 12, 2008 13:20 (UTC -5)
I looked into it once. I always buy full albums – I can’t listen to just one track – and I was concerned about the program, because I didn’t think there was a linux version. Is there one? I might look into it again if they have packaged the software for ubuntu…
#4 by Mark: Wed Mar 12, 2008 13:22 (UTC -5)
Err. I didn’t read your article thoroughly enough – I glanced over the available for linux bit :-)
#5 by Jordon: Wed Mar 12, 2008 14:25 (UTC -5)
That’s right, they have packages for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and OpenSUSE. The software is proprietary.