Amazon has announced it will sell DRM-free digital downloads through a new online music store. In an announcement released early today Amazon says it has licenses to sell music from 12,000 record labels, including, naturally, EMI's digital catalogue, which is already available DRM-free via the iTunes Store.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement that the company's “MP3-only strategy means all the music that customers buy on Amazon is always DRM-free and plays on any device.”
So far EMI is the only major record label embracing unencumbered downloads.
EMI repeatedly emphasized that the announcement of DRM free files on iTunes earlier this year was not an exclusive deal and the company was seeking other deals. Today's Amazon announcement is the first such deal to come to fruition and trumps Apple's current offering by making the whole store DRM free to avoid consumer confusion.
Today's announcement says the new store will launch later this year, but so far no specific date has been set.
Whenever it arrives, Amazon's entry into the world of DRM-free digital downloads may well help convince the reluctant record companies that DRM-free is the way to be.
Also see Epicenter's coverage.
