Amazon MP3 Downloads

I started playing with the Amazon MP3 Download service today and I have to say it’s pretty easy to use, and it incorporates itself nicely with your default player – in my case iTunes.

The only thing I can see folks complaining about right off the bat is the download, but it’s tiny and non-intrusive. I also have to say at least it works on my Vista desktop, my FTP program doesn’t, so I started using FireFTP, and that works great – plus it’s a Firefox plug-in and free. Just like iTunes, it creates a new folder in your Music folder, and is aptly named Amazon MP3. The best thing is they are DRM free MP3 not the MP4 or Real Audio or Windows Media files that limit how they can be used unless you rip them to another format – which I wouldn’t ever do of course.

They have done a good job of getting some popular albums (they have the new Feist album, The Reminder – which is a great album) online already, and honestly are right on par with all of the other services when they were still a bit younger – so I would expect it expand the available selection quickly. The songs are good quality (from the few that I have downloaded so far), they are as little as .89 cents (most are .99) and Amazon incorporates your existing account information just to make that much easier. Right off the top they have a lot of bands that I like, Relient K, Fall Out Boy, The Stones, Weezer, Pink Floyd, Kanye, just to name a few. There are plenty of bands that they don’t have yet, it’s just a matter of time though. If they would have had Hawthorne Heights, I would have bought it – but back to iTunes I go.

I’m not sure if I will ultimately switch – but there’s a good chance I will start buying music from Amazon and branch out from iTunes now that they have this available. I love iTunes, and my iPods; but let’s face it, the fact that I have hundreds of songs that I can only play on my machine and only on iPods is a bit of a pain in the jar. It’s not like I am likely to switch to the Zune – but I’m not a huge fan of being pigeon-holed into a single decision. But no one is twisting my iPod laden arm into buying from Apple either – so feel free to blah blah blah me….

Any way, check it out – you’re bound to find something worth buying.