Cool Tech Reviews

Eric Bangeman at Ars Technica:

Over the past few years, we have watched Apple climb the music sales chart courtesy of the iTunes. Last month we learned that Apple passed Best Buy to become the number two retailer in the the US in December. Now, Apple has ascended to the top of the charts, surpassing Wal-Mart for the first time ever, according to an NPD MusicWatch Survey for the month January contained in an internal Apple e-mail which was leaked to Ars Technica but has not been officially published.

Yet another industry where the Internet is putting traditional means of distribution in the shade. The CD music business isn’t over yet, but the handwriting is on the wall. Also of interest in the NPD numbers - Amazon’s music sales seem to be struggling despite their brand new (and highly touted) online MP3 store.

Back in May, Amazon announced an online music store selling DRM-free MP3s and today they launched a beta version:

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NBC recently had a spat with Apple with the result that NBC is moving the online video sales for its TV shows from iTunes to Amazon’s Unbox and in the process locking out all the Apple iPod users. This spurred CNET’s Chris Soghoian to mention the unmentionable - TV Torrents: When ‘piracy’ is easier than legal purchase:

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I guess there are a few tricks left for manufacturers pursuing the micro sized MP3 player market as evidenced by the Sansa Clip pictured above. Yes, it is matchbox sized, but it also sports a a four-line color OLED screen and an iPod-like wheel for simplified navigation. The Sansa Clip will be available in September, in black, red, blue and pink and as for the other specs:

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I just got finished gushing over Amazon’s forthcoming DRM free music store which features tunes from big publisher EMI and many independent labels and now comes news that puts the whole DRM free music download movement in doubt:

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Back in April I observed that the Apple-EMI deal to provide DRM free downloads in the iTunes store was non-exclusive, and today the second shoe dropped as Amazon announced they will “will launch a digital music store later this year offering millions of songs in the DRM-free MP3 format from more than 12,000 record labels” including EMI and a lot of minor players:

“Our MP3-only strategy means all the music that customers buy on Amazon is always DRM-free and plays on any device,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. “We’re excited to have EMI joining us in this effort and look forward to offering our customers MP3s from amazing artists like Coldplay, Norah Jones and Joss Stone.”

Amazon didn’t specify when exactly the store would open or how much the tunes would cost, but Bruce Houghton at WebProNews has some rumors:

While the official announcement says “later this year”, sources tell us that Amazon is pushing for an “as soon as possible” launch that is primarily being held up by technology and data issues. June or July would seem a likely launch time frame as Amazon is anxious to beat competitors to the inevitable rush of DRM free product.

Amazon is also said to be offering flexible and lower pricing with full album downloads retailing at $4.99 to $8.99 and individual tracks ranging from $.89-$.99.
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We hear rumblings of more labels including perhaps some Universal product and the catalogs of some larger indies and distributed labels that have previously held onto DRM signing onto Amazon prior to launch.

Perhaps naively, I think this is the beginning of the end of DRM based music downloads, and the fact that Amazon is offering MP3s may even put a crimp into iTunes whose DRM-free offerings are only in AAC format. Who knows, even the CD’s days may be numbered.