Amazon's upcoming plan to sell unprotected MP3s remains shrouded in secrecy, as a company spokesperson refused to divulge the price or bit rate of the songs. The launch date also remains a mystery, as well as the total number of songs that will be available in MP3 on that day.
The one thing that is known about the service -- that it will sell songs from EMI and approximately 11,999 other labels in the unprotected MP3 format -- is hardly a surprise. As its deal to sell un-DRMed music through iTunes was announced, the littlest major label said the deal was the first of many to come. For music fans who use something besides an iPod, Amazon's store could become the music store of choice.
Of course, Amazon has sold music in an unprotected format for years (the CD). Hopefully there's more news to come about unprotected digital formats. Although Edgar Bronfman has made it abundantly clear that Warner Music Group will sell unprotected music over his dead body only, the idea of selling music that plays on a wide variety of devices is gathering steam.
