Amazon Gets Funky With Warner Music

DRM-free iTunes competitor continues to attract big labels
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 27, 2007 2:21 PM CST
Amazon Gets Funky With Warner Music
Warner Music Group artist Missy Elliot performs during a concert at the Palais X-tra in Zurich, Switzerland, in this Sept. 26, 2006 file photo. (AP Photo/Keystone, Alessandro Della Bella, file)   (Associated Press)

Amazon’s burgeoning mp3 service landed another big fish today, adding Warner Music’s catalog to its online store. The Amazon shop aims to compete with Apple’s iTunes, selling songs for 89 cents as opposed to Apple’s 99 cents and without digital rights management software that makes sharing songs difficult and limits which players will play them.

DRM-free tunes can play on any player, including the iPod, Digital Trends explains. They represent Amazon’s main differentiator from Apple, which offers shareable tracks from only a handful of labels, Warner not among them. But it’s made companies more reluctant to sign, giving Apple a bigger library. Warner is Amazon’s third major label, after Universal and EMI. (More digital music stories.)

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