After holding out, big four music label Warner Music Group has decided if it can’t beat them it may as well join them. The music giant has now signed up with online retailer Amazon to sell digital rights management (DRM) free music over the internet.
DRM-free music audio downloads from Warner Music Group are now available to customers on Amazon MP3, Amazon’s a la carte MP3 digital music store where every song and album is playable on virtually any personal digital music capable device.
Since Monday, songs from Warner’s digital audio catalogue will be available for purchase and download from Amazon MP3. In addition, Amazon and Warner will make available to consumers digital music products such as album bundles containing exclusive tracks.
“Consumers want flexibility with respect to what they can do with music once they purchase it, and we want them to have that flexibility, which is why we’re pleased to offer our artists’ music on Amazon MP3,” said Michael Nash, senior vice president, digital strategy and business development for Warner Music Group.
“We believe that giving consumers the assurance that the music they purchase can be played on any device they own will only encourage more sales of music,” Nash continued.
“Amazon shares our vision with respect to offering feature-rich music based digital products, and we look forward to making available an array of exciting new digital products over time that will transform the relationship between and among consumers, labels and artists.”
Launched in September 2007, Amazon MP3 (www.amazon.com/mp3) offers Earth’s biggest selection of a la carte DRM-free MP3 music downloads with more than 2.9 million songs from over 33,000 record labels.
The fact that the songs are DRM-free means they can be played on virtually every digital music device whether it’s an Apple iPod, a Creative Zen or a Sony Walkman.
“Our customers are delighted with our DRM-free MP3 service,” said Bill Carr, Amazon.com vice president of digital music. “We have received thousands of emails from our customers since our September launch thanking us for offering the biggest selection of high-quality MP3 audio downloads which play on virtually any music device they own today or will own in the future.
“With the addition of great Warner Music Group content, our customers will discover even more of the music they love on Amazon MP3,” Carr added.
By John Kennedy
