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Watch out, iTunes. There is a new kid in town and he's out to take
your lunch money. His name? Amazon MP3, a new music download service
from Amazon. And, boy, does he want war.
It is not that Amazon was the first to try to lure customers away from the ever-present iTunes. Many have tried but each has its own pitfalls. So what's the appeal of this latest music download service? Amazon gives the customers what they really want: DRM-free music. That's not all, you also get songs encoded in a higher 256kbps bit rate and, for the most part, cheaper. This has two immediate appeals: 1) songs can now be played on virtually any digital media player and 2) iTunes users can manage Amazon downloads without switching to another application.
To be fair, Amazon wasn't the first to offer DRM-free downloads. eMusic has been doing this for years. However, music from major labels are not as abundant as other services. Though the tracks are cheaper, the consumers would rather pay more for music from major artists. A membership is also required to browse eMusic catalog; it is a never good idea to force users to do this. For these reasons, eMusicis hardly a hit among music downloaders.
Walmart was another retailer to offer DRM-free MP3 downloads. It fell short when the service only works on Windows via Internet Explorer. Amazon not only took the restrictions away but also enhanced its appeal by offering a downloader that works on both Mac and Windows.
Using the Amazon MP3 couldn't be any easier than shopping for any other merchandise on Amazon. Millions of shoppers are already familiar with the Amazon's easy-to-use interface. Shopping for MP3 music on Amazon is no different. You search, you preview, you buy.
Being able to preview the music right inside the browser gives you that integrated feel of iTunes. The music clips are 30 seconds in length just like iTunes. However, this feature doesn't work with all the browsers I tested. But for most users out there, this shouldn't be a problem.
You do need to have the 1-click ordering turned on for the service to work. I see this is a bit of a drawback. I would rather have the songs I would like to purchase be put in the shopping cart first. This way, I can have a chance to examine its content before I commit to buying anything.
To automate the process of adding the downloaded music to iTunes or Windows Media Player, a Downloader is available for Mac and Windows. When using the Downloader, the music is downloaded as an AMZ file. This file is then opened by the Downloader to begin the download procedure. By default, your tunes are downloaded to the newly-created “Amazon MP3” folder. Once the music is downloaded, the Downloader automatically adds the music files to iTunes or Windows Media Player. You can then play the downloaded music right away.
Each song is available starting from $0.89 (that's one whole dime cheaper than music from the iTunes Store). Though some songs are available for $0.99, good news is that most of the songs are still available at $0.89. Most albums are available at $8.99; again cheaper than iTunes. However, you can find many albums priced well below that.
Cheaper music, higher bit rate and DRM free. Still not impressed? Then let me tell you why this service sold me. Live customer service. With iTunes, you can only send messages to the customer service department and then wait for their reply. Not so with the Amazon MP3 service, you can actually talk to a live person when problems arise with your MP3 purchases. I dealt with Amazon customer service many times before in the past and I have to say the it is top-notched. Never once was I dissatisfied with the service. Amazon actually has a customer department dedicated to the MP3 Download service. The representative I talked to was very knowledgeable and very pleasant to talk to.
So should you switch? I certainly can't decide that for you. However, I highly recommend the service and would urge you to give it a try. If you are an avid music listener like me, all it takes is just one download to get you hooked on the service.
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