Amazon to Launch New Online Music Store

The online heavyweight Amazon has decided to enter the domain of Apple in music store online. Amazon.com became an ally and a rival to Apple on Wednesday with plans to launch an online music store featuring songs without anti-piracy software.

The Internet retailer will compete with Apple's iTunes digital music store while siding with Apple chief executive Steve Jobs in a campaign to eliminate digital rights management (DRM) software in digital songs.

Amazon.com said on Wednesday it is launching an online music store later this year featuring millions of songs without copying limitations. The online retail giant said it had a deal with British-based music publisher EMI Music to include its music catalog as well as those from 12,000 other music labels.

"Our MP3-only strategy means all the music that customers buy on Amazon is always DRM-free and plays on any device," Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said.

Steve Jobs ignited an industry wide debate earlier this year with an open letter calling on recording studios to do away with DRM in music bought online.

For Amazon to become a serious contender in the online music competition and be able to influence recording studios it needs to quickly get on par with iTunes. Amazon is one of the largest sellers of music CDs and combines popularity with the ability to target shoppers with reviews and recommendations based on purchases.

Amazon said its music store will offer millions of songs exclusively in MP3 format playable on a variety of devices including Apple iPods and Microsoft's Zune. The announcement did not indicate what Amazon plans to charge for downloads, which cost around one dollar at most digital music sites.

It also did not name any music labels besides EMI. The New York Times said the other labels would be independent music companies that have chosen not to use the copy-restricting software.

The other major music labels -- notably Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group -- have so far been reluctant to forgo copy protection.

The entry of the internet mogul in the field of online retailing will definitely bring in more competition and will lead to a bounty for the consumers on the net.

With inputs from United Press International.