Some happy news from the digital files now, and Amazon MP3 has launched in the UK this morning with some pretty impressive offers.
The strictly DRM-free Amazon download service launched in the US at the start of the year, of course, and in doing so forced the major record companies to finally drop their DRM demands and sell their music as MP3s. Other DRM-free services have arrived in the UK as a result - 7Digital and Play UK in particular - which is possibly why the UK version of the Amazon service is launching with some price-cutting offers. Though the launch has been pretty low key, so Amazon are presumably pretty confident they can succeed over here without too much hype.
So low key is the launch that there were only a couple of tiny mentions on the site's homepage this morning. But once inside, users will find many top albums available for just £3, including titles such as Take That's 'The Circus' and Kings Of Leon's 'Only By The Night', and with top songs selling for just 59p. With files delivered in 256kps, DRM- and watermark-free MP3 format, it's a very attractive proposition indeed.
That said, currently there is a distinct lack of indie label material, meaning that some larger artists are missing from the store, the Arctic Monkeys for one. But the new store is already looking like it could be a major upset for iTunes. Having just bought Santogold's album in order to test the system out, I can tell you that it's very quick and easy to use. The download software even adds the files straight into your iTunes library for you. Nice. Which is possibly why there are reports iTunes are stepping up their discounted album prices.