Amazon MP3 store to go global

Amazon's just announced that its DRM-free MP3 store will go global this year, selling tracks outside of the US. This is majorly good news -- as was the creation and expansion of the store. I still hate the terms of service (I'd be much happier with a ToS that said, "Do not violate copyright law," as opposed to one that said, "We've made up a bunch of additional copyright laws, like the one that says you're not allowed to loan this or give it away, and you have to obey those too"), but there are some major chinks in the record industry armor appearing here as the industry execs get scared into rationality by the twin spectres of P2P and a single-vendor-dominated music market.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced that in 2008 the company will begin an international rollout of Amazon MP3, Amazon's DRM-free MP3 digital music store where every song is playable on virtually any digital music-capable device, including the PC, Mac(R), iPod(R), Zune(R), Zen(R), iPhone(TM), RAZR(TM), and BlackBerry(R). Amazon MP3 is the only retailer to offer customers DRM-free MP3s from all four major music labels as well as over 33,000 independent labels.

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[#1 posted by Alys , January 27, 2008 10:20 AM]

Glad to hear it - I've been waiting for it to be more than just the USA.

[#2 posted by tjansen , January 27, 2008 3:09 PM]

Let's just hope that we international customers will be able to buy everything that's available in the US store. Right now many albums appear weeks later, or not at all, in Europe. That's why imports are relatively common. But with downloadable content this wouldn't be possible anymore for most people outside the US. While you can easily buy a CD from Amazon.com and ship it to Europe, you can only buy a MP3 if you have a US billing address.

[#3 posted by Ollie , January 27, 2008 3:21 PM]

It's going to be more than the USA, but it's hardly going to be "global" as the headline says. They announced an "international" roll out, and if I was a betting sort I'd put my chips on this being: China, Canada, Germany, France and the UK (places where Amazon already has established local stores).

They should make their service more like bleep.com, which does sell DRM-free MP3 and flac globally (albeit with a few catalogue restrictions). In the unlikely case that Amazon goes really global, I for one welcome our new MP3 overlords.

[#4 posted by ukcannonfodder , January 27, 2008 3:38 PM]

when does the ifpf - riaa global price fixing start then?

[#5 posted by Ian70 , January 28, 2008 12:56 PM]

There are only -four- major record labels now?? This is all YOUR fault, Internets!

[#6 posted by Anonymous , November 12, 2008 8:09 PM]

'Tis almost the end of the year. Still waiting...