DRM Free Music From EMI on Amazon.com

Amazon.com will finally open an online music store and yes, it will be DRM free. The company confirmed the move that had recently been rumoured.

Without giving any precise timetable, Amazon said that the music store would be online "later this year".

Amazon will offer EMI Music and about 12 000 other music labels in MP3 formats to its customers. The company will then become the second online store to offer EMI's catalog without DRM's hassle.

Apple was the first to announce the availability of DRM free content from EMI on iTunes Store earlier this year. Microsoft followed by saying they will eventually make the same move but no plans have been revealed so far.

No pricing information is available for now. But iTunes is offering the DRM Free songs for 30% more than the original locked music files available at $0.99. It would be surprising to see Amazon undercutting Apple at this point. Indeed, introducing to most expensive music store on the market is also not option for them. We will have to wait and see if they can innovate and bring a new attractive economic model to the fast evolving market of digital media.

This announcement will certainly add even more pressure on Universal, Sony BMG, and Warner's shoulders.

Via PCworld