Introducing... Amazon MP3 Store
So, you use iTunes to manage your music? The majority of digital music users do. Or maybe you use Windows Media player? There are a couple of people with you. Or maybe you don't believe in digitizing your collection? Then I'd like to see your portable record player you clop around with... and I'd like to know, exactly, how you are reading this on your tin-can broadcast station.
Either way, iTunes and WMP both use proprietary formats that don't allow me to, say, take music from my desktop and easily throw it onto my laptop. Well, actually, there's iTunes Plus, which allows me to pay more for a song to be able to copy it around a bit. I have to pay MORE to use the media I buy? Great. It's also hard to find any sales at Apple's iTunes store. And Windows Media Player has no store, so there's nothing to buy there.
What I'm saying is that they are dumb, and there are options out there! Our favorite? Amazon's MP3 store.
Yes, Amazon's MP3 store is fantastic. It's all we use at HAWTaction's headquaters. We find it amazing that most people don't use it. Heck, we find it amazing that most people don't even know about it.
Either way, iTunes and WMP both use proprietary formats that don't allow me to, say, take music from my desktop and easily throw it onto my laptop. Well, actually, there's iTunes Plus, which allows me to pay more for a song to be able to copy it around a bit. I have to pay MORE to use the media I buy? Great. It's also hard to find any sales at Apple's iTunes store. And Windows Media Player has no store, so there's nothing to buy there.
What I'm saying is that they are dumb, and there are options out there! Our favorite? Amazon's MP3 store.
Yes, Amazon's MP3 store is fantastic. It's all we use at HAWTaction's headquaters. We find it amazing that most people don't use it. Heck, we find it amazing that most people don't even know about it.
The bottom line: Amazon MP3 works with whatever you've got: iTunes, Windows Media Player, iPod, Zune, Creative, Samsung... it doesn't matter. See, Amazon lives in the world of MP3's, which are compatible with every single system everywhere. MP3's, you say!??! Those sound terrible with the compression! Well, Amazon's making up for it with the highest quality MP3 on the market: 256kbps. That's as good as it gets right now... so... in terms of a digital music store, it's as good as it gets right now. (That sounds familiar.) Done. Now that MP3's quality's out of the way... on to Amazon's fantasticness.
What Amazon has done to stand out is to stick it to the record labels. The first thing they did? Kill DRM: Digital Rights Management. What is that? The buuuuuull shit you had to wrestle with if you bought something from iTunes and would like to have it on more than one device. Buuuuuull shit. Amazon? You can take any song you buy on Amazon MP3 and move it to any computer and any device you own. I mean... anyone who's going to illegally distribute music is going to get if from free somewhere... they don't need to spend any money on anything before shooting it around the internets. So, if someone actually willing to dish out the cash? They will use it legally. "DRM is whack."
You might think I'm over reacting to DRM, but I remember buying a Foo Fighters CD (In Your Honor) that did not allow me to burn an MP3. What? Yes, I couldn't take my CD and make an MP3 version of the songs. What the f? Instead, I had to put the CD into the computer, enter a code and it would go onto a special website that would download a DRM locked set of songs. Well, after I downloaded the songs, I realized I couldn't put it them on my MP3 player. And, when I got a new computer, there was no way for me to get a new copy on the music. I had to buy the album all over again. Stupid. No one should have to go through that for something they purchased legally.
What's the other thing Amazon's done that pisses off the record label? They charge whatever they want for an album. So, where you can't find an album for under $9.99 at iTunes, Amazon is LOADED with deals. I can't even keep up with them. I got the new Lily Allen there for $3.99 I got the new U2 for $2.99. I got 99 classical Mozart songs for $0.99. The list of deals is bloated and delicious. There are always 50 albums for $5. In fact, you can get the amazing Aiming to Climb for $8.99. (Lucky.)
So, don't think you're locked into iTunes as your song library, even if you're an iPod user. Take a browse around Amazon's MP3 store. Download their MP3 downloader. Buy music. When the dialog pops up after purchase, just select, "Open with Amazon MP3 Downloader." That's it! Just open iTunes, and your music is there.
Delish.
We really, really love the Amazon MP3 store. Check it out, whether you use an iPhone, PC, Samsung, iPod, Mac, Creative, Zune... It is true HAWTaction [hot ak-shuh
n].
What Amazon has done to stand out is to stick it to the record labels. The first thing they did? Kill DRM: Digital Rights Management. What is that? The buuuuuull shit you had to wrestle with if you bought something from iTunes and would like to have it on more than one device. Buuuuuull shit. Amazon? You can take any song you buy on Amazon MP3 and move it to any computer and any device you own. I mean... anyone who's going to illegally distribute music is going to get if from free somewhere... they don't need to spend any money on anything before shooting it around the internets. So, if someone actually willing to dish out the cash? They will use it legally. "DRM is whack."
You might think I'm over reacting to DRM, but I remember buying a Foo Fighters CD (In Your Honor) that did not allow me to burn an MP3. What? Yes, I couldn't take my CD and make an MP3 version of the songs. What the f? Instead, I had to put the CD into the computer, enter a code and it would go onto a special website that would download a DRM locked set of songs. Well, after I downloaded the songs, I realized I couldn't put it them on my MP3 player. And, when I got a new computer, there was no way for me to get a new copy on the music. I had to buy the album all over again. Stupid. No one should have to go through that for something they purchased legally.
What's the other thing Amazon's done that pisses off the record label? They charge whatever they want for an album. So, where you can't find an album for under $9.99 at iTunes, Amazon is LOADED with deals. I can't even keep up with them. I got the new Lily Allen there for $3.99 I got the new U2 for $2.99. I got 99 classical Mozart songs for $0.99. The list of deals is bloated and delicious. There are always 50 albums for $5. In fact, you can get the amazing Aiming to Climb for $8.99. (Lucky.)
So, don't think you're locked into iTunes as your song library, even if you're an iPod user. Take a browse around Amazon's MP3 store. Download their MP3 downloader. Buy music. When the dialog pops up after purchase, just select, "Open with Amazon MP3 Downloader." That's it! Just open iTunes, and your music is there.
Delish.
We really, really love the Amazon MP3 store. Check it out, whether you use an iPhone, PC, Samsung, iPod, Mac, Creative, Zune... It is true HAWTaction [hot ak-shuh
n].Find HAWTaction on Facebook!
I love that you point this out!
I didn't even harp on how strongly I believe in purchasing music legally. (Kudos to me.) Now, grab $25 and get yourself an amazing collection of classical music.
Amazon also has an email they blast out every morning with the special deals of the day. I recommend signing up... you never know what might strike your fancy!