RSSAmazon MP3 store challenges iTunes with dirt cheap Coldplay
By Tim Conneally | Published June 18, 2008, 3:48 PM
Celebrating the release of British alt-pop group Coldplay's new album "Viva la Vida: or Death and All his Friends," Amazon has taken the opportunity to offer customers the band's entire back catalog for $1.99 per album.
Even though Apple's iTunes has been running "exclusively on iTunes" commercials for Coldplay's newest album since May, "Viva.." is Amazon's top-selling album today. The retailer is now offering the album DRM-free for one dollar cheaper than iTunes.
In addition, Amazon has said it will make all of the band's prior albums available for practically nothing on a week-to-week promotional basis. Today, the 13-track "X & Y" is available for $1.99, or just around 15 cents a song. This will be followed by "A Rush of Blood to the Head," and "Parachutes."
All of these albums cost about 70% more on iTunes, and Apple's history of competitive pricing is, well...nil, which Amazon looks to have this clearly in mind with a new sales push. The company will be doing an ongoing promotion called "Friday Five," where it offers five select albums for five dollars each starting on Fridays and lasting through the following weekend, and it will also offer a "Daily Deal" where a single album will be made available for a deep discount.
| The band Coldplay as expertly envisioned for a recent iTunes commercial |
NPD data from the beginning of this year showed that iTunes had surpassed all other retailers in music sales, of both hard copy media and data. Amazon's MP3 store has only a fraction of the customer base that iTunes has: The Los Angeles Times cites a Forrester Research report that surveyed 1,273 people in April, 62% of whom said they had bought music from iTunes, while only 11% had done the same through Amazon.
SpiralFrog.com offers it for free
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I think it totally sucks that Amazon tells you that in order to buy the entire album at once (sometimes buying the whole album instead of individual tracks saves you some money) and maybe save some money, you have to install THEIR download app.
Why don't they just put all the songs in a single ZIP file and let you buy it that way without having to use any additional software?
I bought all 12 tracks of the new Filter album "Anthems For The Damned" individually just because I didn't want to have to install some cheesy download app.
With single songs, you can just buy 'em straight from the browser, no special software needed. But for entire albums, which may be at a discount, you don't get that same level of freedom.
I refused to buy anything from iTunes mainly because I hate DRM / Copy Protection, but also because I HATE that freakin' iTunes software that they shove down your throat (along with Quicktime so it can "work all purdy" or whatever).
I can hardly believe that Amazon and the no copy protection thing hasn't cut into iTunes sales a lot more than they have.
Isn't this what users were BEGGING for not long ago? Native, high quality MP3's with no copy protection?
I expected the flood gates to open, but maybe there is a lot more "Talk than Walk" when it comes to taking a stand... Bummer
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It all comes down to marketing. Apple is in your face everywhere, kills off any organized critique and has the knack of giving their users a feeling of superiority for doing nothing but paying a premium for average products wrapped in a glossy shell. And I don't say this to discredit them, it's such an amazing business model and extremely well executed - I am truly impressed how they keep pulling it off and generate share holder value.
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Coldplay must be getting desperate, and they are boring as well, I might add. Hard for me to even post this without nodding off thinking about it.
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There was only 1 Coldplay album I liked, and then it dawned on me I was in bad slump, slightly depressed, and I connected it to their cd. I have since no longer listened to their music. Music in general really affects my mood.
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No Rammstein for you, then.
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