In a clear attempt to break Apple's stranglehold on the music market, Amazon announced Thursday its newest online service called AutoRip.
In some ways, it's both a sensible and remarkable development. Any time a customer buys an AutoRip-enabled CD off of Amazon, they will also receive the digital MP3 version of the album for free. The free digital CD will be immediately available for playback in the cloud-based AutoRip player, meaning customers won't have to wait for the CD to arrive before they can listen to the songs.
Not only will this apply to any AutoRip CD going forward, but Amazon will also support this feature for CDs that users have purchased in the past, dating all the way back to 1998, when the Amazon Music Store first opened.
The AutoRip MP3s can be played on virtually any mobile device, including iPhones, Androids, Kindles, tablets, Samsung TVs, Roku players, web browsers and more. They won't even count against your Cloud Player storage limit.
"What would you say if you bought music CDs from a company 15 years ago, and then 15 years later that company licensed the rights from the record companies to give you the MP3 versions of those CDs... and then to top it off, did that for you automatically and for free?" said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. "Well, starting today, it's available to all of our customers - past, present, and future - at no cost. We love these opportunities to do something unexpected for our customers."
The only catch is that since some labels and artists haven't signed up for the service, not every album in Amazon's catalogue will be AutoRip enabled, though the library will surely grow if things catch on. For now, the company is touting support for artists like Adele, Maroon 5, Pink Floyd, and Michael Jackson.
All things considered, the service sounds like an unbeatable deal, considerably better than having to purchase an album both physically and digitally if you want more playback options. Amazon knows it, too; check out this not-too-subtle jab at Apple in the company's press release:
"In many cases, customers can buy an AutoRip CD, including the free digital copy, for less than they would pay for only the digital album at iTunes."
It's official, Apple: You're on notice.
