Play.com launches DRM-free music in the UK before Amazon

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Thursday, 14 February 2008

Page 1 of 3 ! Although Apple already offers some DRM-free music through iTunes in the UK, Play.com has joined the DRM-free rush before US based online retailer Amazon has had a chance to blitz the UK market. An article in the UK’s Times Online has uncovered Play.com’s UK entry into the DRM-free music space, following Apple’s iTunes, 7digital and eMusic, all of whom are no doubt bracing for Amazon’s impending entry into the British DRM-free music market. While iTunes still holds a whopping 70% of the UK music market, they don’t offer DRM-free music from every major music company – and neither does Play.com, who like Apple only offer DRM-free tracks from EMI. That said, Play also offers some independent music labels, bringing their total DRM-free collection in the UK to a relatively impressive 1.3 million tracks. Play.com do say they hope to offer tracks from other major labels within the next six months, but it’s a far cry from Amazon’s offering in the US which offers DRM-free music from all the major labels, something not even Apple can yet boast for their US customers. Like Amazon in the US, Play.com doesn’t require users to download some kind of music management/downloading software first – something that’s essential for iPod owners using iTunes to purchase music tunes – you can just download tunes from their website, and import them into most any current mp3 player. But Amazon in the US does offer optional software for music downloading, and most interestingly, Amazon are promising their software will work on all major computing platforms – including Linux. So, what are Play.com planning to charge for their DRM-free tracks? Surely they’re going to undercut Apple in an attempt to lure existing iTunes users to the service? And do Linux users really need dedicated hand-holding music management software? Please read onto page 2. << First page <   1 2 3 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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