I done squeaked in my KEXP pledge this morning. I like a lot of other stations, but something just tugged at the corner of my soul. Kinda like those Greenpeace kids in front of Whole Foods… but John and Cheryl were more effective. I didn’t give enough for Riz to come over cook me dinner or for Stevie Zoom to give me a personal tour of the studio, but hey, it’s something.
DRM-free tracks! 256kbps! 89¢ per song!
Stand aside, iTunes Store, there’s some new crack on the street I need to spend my money on. Amazon MP3 Download Store.
This is big news, folks. This (no DRM) is what what Steve Jobs has done on a small scale at the iTunes Store with one label, but a bit bigger (two labels), and better quality files.
Apple is good, but competition is better.
But there’s a bit of a downside… you need to get the Amazon MP3 downloader. Not a terrible hassle, but why can’t we just download the music after we buy it? Why a downloader?
The Mac downloader, “Amazon MP3 Downloader”, clocks in at 1.1MB and is a Universal binary, meaning it will work on G3, G4, G5 and newer Intel-powered Macs. You get the downloader when you buy your first track or album.
The buy/download process was less than streamlined, and in my haste I bought The Reminder twice. I have a support ticket in currently asking for a refund for one copy, which comes to $9.79 with Washington State tax. I expect this to improve, and I note that the service is still in beta.
Read about why I parted ways with the iTunes store back in Fall, 2005, on my Mac blog, AppleSwitcher.com.
Salon’s take on Amazon’s MP3 store. Ars Technica’s take.
The Reminder review coming soon.
Have you used it? Do you plan to? Let’s hear your feedback.
