EMI's Next Stop on the DRM-Free Music Tour: Amazon

With all the hype over the forthcoming availability of DRM-free tracks on iTunes, many seem to have forgotten that EMI's April announcement stated that their music will be available without copy protection at other online outlets as well -- iTunes just happens to be the first.

Today EMI's second dance partner was revealed when Amazon announced that its digital music store will be launching later this year, and that they'll only be selling DRM-free MP3s. Amazon claims that they'll have millions of tracks supplied by 12,000 music labels, but right now the only one they're mentioning is EMI. Given the major labels' current resistance to selling music online without DRM, we can safely assume that's 11,999 indie labels -- perhaps including those that used to make some of their music available for free on the site.

One question that needs to be asked is how much Amazon will be charging for music, and if EMI's tracks will be sold at a premium, as their DRM-free offerings will be on iTunes. Even if they did, Amazon would still represent a better deal, for some: unlike iTunes' AAC, Amazon's MP3-only format guarantees that the tracks will be playable on any device (including many DVD players) and with any software. And I'm still wondering if EMI will eventually make a deal with eMusic, where tracks cost a third of a regular iTunes single.