iLounge

1

Very, very good news.  In order to move the concept forward I will support both iTunes and Amazon with my dollars at first, but since MP3s are platform and hardware independent, I’ll move to Amazon (or whoever gives me the best band for my buck in DRM-free music).

Posted by malren on May 16, 2007 at 9:14 AM (PDT)

2

Great! I love this idea.  Hopefully, Amazon will have more variety than iTunes. 

Does anyone know yet what would be the bitrate of these DRM-Free MP3’s?  Hopefully is not less than 192.

Posted by Tiki on May 16, 2007 at 12:01 PM (PDT)

3

10,00 Labels, all a part of EMI or are there going to be more independent labels?

Posted by Ricky C on May 16, 2007 at 12:31 PM (PDT)

4

Help me here.  So, does this mean we could buy the DRM-free music from Amazon and load it on our iPods with iTunes?  Thanks.

Posted by genius on May 16, 2007 at 1:51 PM (PDT)

5

Yes, genius.  Non-DRM mp3s are no different - as far as usage goes - than one you might rip yourself and drop into iTunes.

Posted by malren on May 16, 2007 at 2:02 PM (PDT)

6

here’s to hoping the quality isn’t crap…

Posted by Victor on May 16, 2007 at 2:18 PM (PDT)

7

marlen,

MP3’s are no more platform or hardware independent than AAC’s.  They just happen to be found more often in electronics devices, because of the age of the MP3 codec. 
Now that Apple will be selling DRM free AAC files, almost all music player devices will support AAC.  They aren’t going to leave out the largest legal music store’s format when there is no DRM getting in the way now.

Posted by nilesmitchell on May 16, 2007 at 2:20 PM (PDT)

8

Today, you can’t argue that mp3’s play on a more diverse set of hardware/software regardless of DRM.

Not sure how you can say otherwise.

Posted by pablo on May 16, 2007 at 6:33 PM (PDT)

9

I didn’t say that.  I said there is nothing platform independent about MP3 over AAC.  They both involve licensing fees.

Posted by nilesmitchell on May 16, 2007 at 8:26 PM (PDT)

10

“Now that Apple will be selling DRM free AAC files, almost all music player devices will support AAC”

That might be the case if Apple was the only player selling DRM-free music.  You might see Apple’s DRM as the only thing keeping AAC from being more widely supported.  I see other store’s DRM (and the WMA format that Apple refuses to support) as the only things keeping iPod owners locked into iTunes for digital downloads.  Now with this Amazon service, iPod owners will have a choice of where to buy music downloads.  I’m not convinced that this will result in increased adoption of the AAC format.

In any case, I think it’s a great step forward for consumers and I hope more services and record labels follow suit with DRM-free downloads in any and all formats (MP3, AAC, or WMA).

Posted by dodo on May 17, 2007 at 6:45 AM (PDT)

11

As iTunes starts selling more and more DRM-free AAC files, more and more music players will support the AAC format.

It’s a simple reason—that way they can advertise it as “Compatible with the iTunes Store.” And that just happens to be the most popular store for legal music downloads, by a large margin.

However, MP3 is still much more widely supported. While most upcoming music players will support AAC, MP3 is supported by nearly *everything,* including older model cellphones and random things like GPS devices. Once, I even got an MP3 player in a box of cereal.

Posted by BJ Nemeth on May 17, 2007 at 9:20 AM (PDT)

12

To BJ:

Hey what cereal do you eat?

I gotta try it (Joke)!

Posted by FTH on May 18, 2007 at 5:48 PM (PDT)