Amazon.com is well known for its long standing reputation of being a reliable and respected online retail shop. Amazon decided to provide good and affordable music in 2007. Since then, their archive continually grew in number and variety and is now offering about 19 million songs.
Pros
- Songs are DRM-free
- Superior music quality
- Music files are compatible with devices
- Wide music database
- They offer free songs
Cons
- iPhones are not yet supported platforms for Amazon MP3 Store or Amazon Cloud Player
- The service is only available to US customer
- Amazon MP3 Downloader is needed to download music in MP3 form
- Products and services offered are minimal compared to other competitor sites
Amazon is more than just your average online shopping place; it is a home for over 19 millions songs for you to choose from. Song prices usually start at $1 and albums at $4. Amazon also offers a selection of songs and albums free of charge. Purchased songs are yours to keep since they are DRM-free. The files are in MP3 format with 256 kbps plus valuable bit rate compression, rendering its quality superior than others.
Buying Music
An Amazon account is needed to purchase music at Amazon. Mode of payment can be through credit or debit card. The Amazon download manager is required to buy or download music. It will automatically import your downloaded files to your current music player like iTunes or Windows Media Player.
You can initially window shop before purchasing by listening to the Amazon’s album samples. Once you have decided, you can purchase music by individual tracks or by entire albums. Prepaid services such as gift cards or claim codes can also be used to purchase music.
The Amazon Cloud Drive and Player
The Amazon Cloud services are also recommended for better organization of and storage of your purchases. All paid Amazon Cloud Drive plans offer unlimited space for your music purchases.
With Amazon Cloud Player, the songs can be played or streamed on several hand-held devices such as Kindle Fire, Android device, PC, Mac, or iPad. It is enabled by JavaScript thus it is compatible with most browsers including Safari, Firefox and Chrome.
You always have the option to whether save your MP3 purchases to your Amazon Cloud Drive or directly to your device.
Additional products and services
Normally, songs are categorized according to their genre or price. At Amazon, they also categorize songs based on the number of sales and date released. Recommendations are also personalized depending on your profile and previous purchases. Amazon also offers promos and deals every now and then, providing discounts or bonuses.
They also offer a handful of free full-length songs. You can further cultivate your fandom experience since Amazon also offers Band T-shirts, Vinyl Records and other merchandise.
Weaknesses
Sadly, the services are only available to US customers. Other sites like iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster and eMusic offer more products and services such as artist interviews, album reviews, news, music videos, playlist generators and radio.
Conclusion
Amazon does not offer as much goodies as its competitors. But if you are into affordable and good quality music, Amazon might be the right place for you. Amazon’s songs and albums are of superior quality and are DRM-free. Amazon music service is minimal and functional at the same time.
Have you tried Amazon MP3 service or other music download service? Share your stories, comments, and questions below.
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