Music publishing giant Sony BMG has agreed that online retailer Amazon will be able to sell Sony tracks devoid of digital rights management (DRM) technology and will allow the music to be played on any digital device.
This means Amazon will be the only retailer able to offer DRM-free MP3 music from all four major music labels as well as 33,000 independent labels.
This adds up to a library of over 3.1m songs from 270,000 artists, capable of being played on any device from the iPod to the Zune and Blackberry, as well as various computer platforms.
“We are constantly exploring new ways of making our music available to consumers in the physical space, over the internet and through mobile phones, and this initiative is the newest element in our ongoing campaign to bring our music to fans wherever they happen to be,” explains Thomas Hesse, president, Global Digital Business & US Sales, Sony BMG Entertainment.
Most songs available on Amazon MP3 are priced from 89 cents to 9 cents, while albums are priced from US$5.99 up to US$9.99.
“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,” adds Bill Carr, Amazon’s vice president of digital music.
By John Kennedy
