Category: Freedom Zero: Adventures With Linux
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Well, it took them a few months, but guess what: Amazon has quietly released the Linux version of the Amazon MP3 Downloader software required to buy albums through their DRM-free music store.
Even better, they have it packaged up ready to go for just about every major distro out there: there are packages available for Ubuntu Gutsy, Debian Etch, Fedora 8, and OpenSUSE 10.3.
I have bought several albums through the Amazon MP3 store (downloading them via my Windows partition), and I can testify that the service is groundbreaking: reasonably priced music that you can download directly and play back on any device that plays MP3s. It’s better than the iTunes Music Store (which requires you to have an iPod to play your music back, and which loads each track with anti-copying DRM code that prevents you from freely moving your music) in just about every way imaginable. And on top of all that, Amazon’s prices are usually lower than Apple’s, too.
Oh yeah, and if you decided the Amazon MP3 store wasn’t for you when they launched with only two major labels, they’ve now got the rights to distribute music from all of the big labels. So you will be hard pressed to find a band whose music isn’t available in there.
So what the hell are you waiting for? This is the perfect digital music service. If you’ve been waiting to take the plunge into purchasing downloadable music, wait no longer.
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So, will it work with what I already have in iTunes??
Yep -- if you're on Windows or Mac, the Amazon downloader automatically imports the songs you buy into your iTunes library.
Seriously, when I said it was perfect, I wasn't kidding :-)
I got a $25 iTunes gift card for Christmas. I don't want it, I want Amazon! The last time I bought something from iTunes I had to have a coworker save it on our work server and then back on my own computer to get it into a format I'd be able to copy onto CDs as many times as I wanted. It was so annoying. I'm assuming if you buy from Amazon they don't have those weird restrictions?
"I'm assuming if you buy from Amazon they don't have those weird restrictions?"
That's right, Amazon's files are completely free of any anti-copying nonsense. So you can copy them between computers, burn them onto CDs as many times as you want, and listen to them on any portable music player you care to buy.
Amazon should consider offering a trade-in deal on iTunes gift cards. They'd make a fortune :-D