Amazon Optimizes MP3 Store for Mobile Safari to Attract iOS Device Users

They will not download to your iPhone like they through iTunes.

I still prefer iTunes and always will.

starbird said:

Honest question here. How does AutoRip help with your described shortcomings of storage on an iOS device, or deal with the storage space constraints you describe? Or the "not always on wifi and don't want to use expensive data plan" issue?

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Honest answer is that it doesn't! AutoRip provides another option certainly, but it still relies on wireless streaming or downloading to my iOS device which I pointed out have costs. I began to realize that none of the available solutions are ideal.

The real AutoRip thrill that I experienced was that there are many CDs and tracks which I never ripped to iTunes and had forgotten about and now, here they are available from Amazon on my iPad and I didn't even have to do the work!

Elbon said:

Right. But iTunes embeds a web browser within a native app. It doens't try to emulate a native app within a web browser. The latter is what I don't like.

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It should be the opposite. UIWebView has many more limitations than Mobile Safari on iOS (the Nitro Javascript engine alone speeds things up so much it makes all the difference by itself) that a "native app" that's a UIWebView loading HTML content from the web is much worse than a Webapp running in Mobile Safari.

gnasher729 said:

VBR files should have a special mp3 sound block inside that contains a directory about where in the file each second of sound is (with CBR, you can just calculate which location is exactly two minutes into the song, with VBR that doesn't work). If that special block isn't there, then many player will read the complete sound file to gather the information. Shouldn't take long on a Mac, but on a tiny MP3 player it could take a while.

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Excellent explanation! Thanks!

c1phers said:

This is sweet! I get free mp3 credit from amazon all the time. This makes it useful to buy on the fly (for free) and play on my device.

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If you bought the physical CD, you always had the capability to rip MP3s or AACs. The process is almost completely automated in iTunes: pop the CD in, click the "Import CD" button, and wait for the CD to eject. FWIW.

I like Amazon's streaming through their app. No need to fill up memory in my iphone with all my music. I keep a bit in the phone for when I can't get wifi otherwise I just stream the rest (free) from the Amazon app.

FSMBP said:

I wish Apple would allow downloading MP3s from websites/apps to integrate into iOS's Music app.

I buy music from Amazon all the time and I can't put it into my Music app without using my Mac. How can I use an iPad as a computer replacement if it can't even do that!

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Because Apple wants you to buy all of your music from their iTunes store...

LagunaSol said:

Switch to AAC, Amazon, and we'll talk.

MP3 is so 1999.

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For classical, country, folk. opera, and show tunes maybe.
Not so for rap, hip hop, acid rock, techno. etc.

Once I've played a song a few times I never want hear again for ages. I like new music at 24 bit rate not the rubbish most listen too. The great thing about iTunes I can load 24bit music and listen to it at 24bit rate on my stero. If I need any of the 24bit music on my iPhone I upload it to iTunes Match and then down load it to my iPhone at 256.

I don't need thousands of songs I just wish Apple would sell music at 24bit rate if available.

Pakaku said:

Because Apple wants you to buy all of your music from their iTunes store...

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And Amazon doesn't want you to buy all of your ebooks from their Kindle store?

John.B said:

And Amazon doesn't want you to buy all of your ebooks from their Kindle store?

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The point I'm trying to make is: if it's not part of Apple's ecosystem, I.E. buying from Amazon means Apple gets 0 of those profits, then Apple feels unobligated to make it easier for you

I'm sorry but MP3 stores are dead, or will be in a few years time anyway. With Spotify and other streaming services gaining even more momentum, already having pretty much all the music ever made in their libraries, it's simply going to be a superior model for 99% of people. I haven't bought MP3s in years and certainly wouldn't invest in them now

IMO one of the most disappointing things about Apple in the past few years is they still not getting on with this. Why didn't they buy Spotify a year ago?

karlwig said:

I'm sorry but MP3 stores are dead, or will be in a few years time anyway. With Spotify and other streaming services gaining even more momentum, already having pretty much all the music ever made in their libraries, it's simply going to be a superior model for 99% of people. I haven't bought MP3s in years and certainly wouldn't invest in them now

IMO one of the most disappointing things about Apple in the past few years is they still not getting on with this. Why didn't they buy Spotify a year ago?

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Maybe because online music stores are not dead yet or far from it.

About time

It's about time! I have prime, and I would much rather pay $.99 per song instead of Apple's $1.29. Prior to this release, it was impossible to download music from Amazon on the go.

I also have an amazon credit card. I would much rather get triple points on my music purchases as well.

adamryan1983 said:

This.

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Indeed, there's loads of non-US readers of this site so please be more specific next time

karlwig said:

I'm sorry but MP3 stores are dead, or will be in a few years time anyway. With Spotify and other streaming services gaining even more momentum, already having pretty much all the music ever made in their libraries, it's simply going to be a superior model for 99% of people. I haven't bought MP3s in years and certainly wouldn't invest in them now

IMO one of the most disappointing things about Apple in the past few years is they still not getting on with this. Why didn't they buy Spotify a year ago?

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Streaming does not replace offline music. Sometimes, you just need to have the music with you. I don't trust "streaming" or "cloud" services that require always-on connectivity.

KnightWRX said:

Streaming does not replace offline music. Sometimes, you just need to have the music with you. I don't trust "streaming" or "cloud" services that require always-on connectivity.

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I love using Spotify but no way in hell would I rely on it for offline music. Get booted out of Spotify once and all of a sudden your offline music collection is gone until it can be redownloaded again. If you're not connected you're pretty much out of luck.

kgtenacious said:

wtf are you talking about? All of your mp3 purchases are on the amazon cloud player, you just check off the ones you want to download and click the "Download" button.

you must be thinking of a time you bought an album off of iTunes and then they no longer carried that album and then iTunes match overwrote your studio version of a song with a live version...

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You can play off the Amazon cloud player unlimited times, but can only download once. At least as of last year, anyway. I'm obviously not bothering to check again.

I can download the music I purchased from Amazon as many times as I want on any of my computers.

I keep some music in my iPhone and rely on streaming for the rest to save space on the phone. The combination of on board music with streaming is perfect. The Amazon app plays both so I just use that app for playing music rather than the Apple music app which only has the on board music in it.

GoldenJoe said:

You can play off the Amazon cloud player unlimited times, but can only download once. At least as of last year, anyway. I'm obviously not bothering to check again.

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I just downloaded an album I already downloaded, and then did it _again_. I don't think there's any download limits, at least through the cloud interface.

It generates an AMZ file that opens the Amazon downloader, and it even drops it right into iTunes, all meta-data, etc., works great.

**** iTunes 11. **** iTunes Match. Worst software and exection of any product since my being an avid fan and supporter of Apple since 1992. Disgusting. Im waiting for something to lure me away. Seriously not hating, but the threads on the Apple discussion boards are ripe with hate for iTunes now. The homogenized efforts to iOS everything is shameful and in my opinion a rip off. Worst 25$ I ever spent with Apple. Shame on Apple for doing a sneaky update and hood winking so many into the update. Im going back to 10, and hope Apple gets more sensitive to what others are doing, its fans/customers are saying. A total FUBAR and for the first time am adamantly upset with Apple. This makes mobil me and iCloud seem minor

Elbon said:

"The Amazon MP3 mobile website for iPhone and iPod touches is built on HTML5"

Bleh. I hate HTML-based "apps". They always feel so clunky compared to native apps.

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Yes, but they could never do a native app because then Apple would want 30% of sales.

Amazon offer much better and more competitive pricing than iTunes. If they find a means of making it less of a headache to buy from them, it's a good thing.

Currently, you have to buy from their site.... then use their stupid and horrible mp3 downloader, and then you have to manually move the item to iTunes, and then sync your device. Unless I'm snagging a killer deal on an entire album, I don't bother to save 10-30 cents on an individual song just to spare myself the hassel.

Hate to say it, this is definitely one of those bonuses to Android over IOS. You can directly download from any store to your device.... well, except for iTunes because they don't offer it on Android.

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karlwig said:

I'm sorry but MP3 stores are dead, or will be in a few years time anyway. With Spotify and other streaming services gaining even more momentum, already having pretty much all the music ever made in their libraries, it's simply going to be a superior model for 99% of people. I haven't bought MP3s in years and certainly wouldn't invest in them now

IMO one of the most disappointing things about Apple in the past few years is they still not getting on with this. Why didn't they buy Spotify a year ago?

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They are far from dead. Streaming services will always require an internet connection, or a premium subscription price to allow storage on a device. The majority of users for services like Spotify get free accounts and still buy stuff they want.

Spotify's model is nothing new... Rhapsody and others have been around for ages and never took off and for the reasons I just cited. These services also would die a fast death if people totally abandoned music sales because the labels get far less money from these services. The labels use them much as they used radio to promote new music hoping you'll buy. They'd cut their catalogs off in a heart beat if what you proposed were really coming to be true.

A fraction of a penny 0.0001 per play from a Spotify like service, or 70 cents for a download from an mp3 store? Hmm... if you were a record company, which model would you put a knife to first?

Let us not forget, the record label has to share those pennies with the artist via royalties.

Would you rather have 13 songs or 10 songs?

10 songs on Itunes = $12.90
13 songs on Amazon = $12.87

Here are the prices for the top songs on Amazon ------vs-------Itunes

I Knew You Were Trouble ----------------$0.99---------------------$1.29
Home-----------------------------------$0.99----------------------$1.29
Thrift Shop (feat. Wanz) -----------------$0.99---------------------$1.29
Locked Out Of Heaven-------------------$0.99----------------------$1.29
Ho Hey-----------------------------------$0.99-----------------------$1.29
Gangnam Style----------------------------$0.99-----------------------$1.29

etc...

The music lablels are selling these songs at $1.29 x 70% = $0.903.

Amazon is okay with netting $0.087 from each song selling at $0.99. Itunes will net $0.38 from each song selling at $1.29.

Amazon and Itunes are the polar opposite of each others when it come to profit margin.

Apple: thrive on high margin
Amazon: thrive on low profit margin

If you own a Roku box and purchase your music from Amazon you can stream the music over and over again from Amazon. No other purchases needed.

If you own an Apple TV and you buy your music from Apple, you get nothing. You must also buy a computer to share the music to the Apple TV. Apple will stream any content other than music directly to the Apple TV, what's up with that?

Both Amazon and Apple should be worried about subscription music.

In Sweden, subscription music is more than 9 times bigger than the legal download market.

Sweden music market total: $144.8 million (100%)

Spotify: $83.4 million (57.6%)
Itunes/Amazon/Google download: $9.27 million (6.4%)
CD: $52.1 million (36%)


http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/indu...ers-digital-drives-sweden-to-1008102222.story

To see the future of music, look to Scandanavia. Streaming services helped the Swedish recorded music market grow 13.8% to over 943 million Swedish kronor ($144.8 million) in 2012, according to IFPI Sweden figures released Friday.

Digital revenue accounted for 64% of total recorded music revenue, up 12% from 2011. Streaming services such as Spotify accounted for 90% of all digital revenues, up from 82% in 2011. CD sales declined 15%.

Scandinavia is where the music industry's vision for the future is best taking shape. The gains seen in Sweden are similar to 8% gain in 2012 the IFPI Norway just announced. Both markets are being led by subscription services such as Spotify and getting more than enough growth from subscription revenues to offset losses in CD sales.

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The scary thing is that both CD and download are decreasing each passing year in Sweden while subscription is increasing.

EbookReader said:

Both Amazon and Apple should be worried about subscription music.

In Sweden, subscription music is more than 9 times bigger than the legal download market.

Sweden music market total: $144.8 million (100%)

Spotify: $83.4 million (57.6%)

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From theregister.com:

"Cellist and composer Zoë Keating recently published her Spotify revenues on a public spreadsheet. While she commends it as an "awesome" listening platform, she earned just $281.87 from 72,000 plays, or around three-tenths of a cent per play. For comparison, for a five month period she earned $46,477 from iTunes downloads."

It seems that Amazon and Apple don't need to be worried, but artists should be scared.