Amazon has scored one more point in its battle of a largest share
in digital music market, as Sony BMG Music Entertainment is to become the
fourth and final major label to sell digital music without copyright protection
through Amazon MP3 Store.
"We are excited to offer Amazon MP3 customers DRM-free
MP3s from SONY BMG, which represents many of the most popular musicians from
the past and present," said Bill Carr, Amazon.com Vice President for
Digital Music. "Our Amazon MP3 customers will be able to choose from a
full selection of DRM-free music downloads from all four major labels and over
33,000 independents that they can play on virtually any music-capable device."
In only four moths since its launch, Amazon MP3 Store has managed
to create a catalog with 3.1 million songs from more than 270,000 artists. This
week's deal makes Seattle-based Amazon the only retailer to offer DRM-free MP3
downloads from all four major music labels. It also sells such music from more
than 33,000 independent labels.
Not only does the move announced by the two companies
Thursday make Amazon a strong rival to Apple's iTunes, the leading digital
music store, but Sony BMG's conversion to the MP3 format also deals a blow to
the software known as digital rights management, or DRM, which is meant to keep
consumers from making unauthorized copies of copyrighted digital material.
Digital music bought from Amazon can be played on virtually
any digital device, including iPods, Microsoft Corp's Zune, personal computers,
Macs, mobile phones and Blackberrys.
Last month after Christmas Amazon announced that it would
begin offering downloads from Warner Music Group Corp.'s song catalog.
Universal Music Group joined EMI in the DRM-free revolution in August.
Sony BMG, the second-largest music company in the world,
said it would begin offering its music catalog - which includes such performers
as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Justin Timberlake, the Foo Fighters, Beyonce,
Celine Dion and Britney Spears - on Amazon by the end of the month.
New York-based Sony BMG's partnership with Amazon followed
its announcement at the beginning of the week that it would begin limited
selling of DRM-free music on the internet that would require buyers first to
buy plastic cards at retail stores that would contain a code allowing them to
go online and download certain albums. Only 37 albums were offered for sale.
Also, Sony BMG’s move follows after in August last year,
Sony has unplugged its proprietary format for music files, ATRAC, during their
press event at IFA 2007 in Berlin.
During the same event in Berlin
it was announced that by March 2008 Sony will close its Connect music store,
which was launched in 2004 as a response to iTunes Music Store.
