The debate on copy-protected music versus more open and unlocked formats like mp3 has been going on for a while. Amazon seemed to have taken a side with its recently-opened music store that competes directly with Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Dubbed AmazonMP3, Amazon’s Music store is an ala-carte music download service that allows users to download music in the popular drm-free mp3 format.
While Apple offers the same drm-free AAC music for its EMI Music catalogue, Amazon plans to lure customers because of its lower pricing. The DRM’ed media age is slowly dying even before it had the chance to actually lift off. With Amazon as its new competitor, the consumer will surely win when Apple improves its Music Store to counter Amazon’s move.