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'Amie Street' signs major artists to sell DRM-free music

7 March 2007 20:57 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 7 comments

Amie Street, a web based music downloading service that started up last July has recently come into the public eye by signing a new deal with the Nettwerk Music Group, a group with very well known names such as the Barenaked Ladies, Paul Van Dyke, and Avril Lavigne. Up until this point, Amie Street had sold music from independent artists and without DRM.

For those unfamiliar with Amie Street, the company is very unique. It not only offers DRM-free music but its pricing system is set up differently than that of its competitors, most notably iTunes. In their system, all the musc listed on the site starts out free, but as more and more people download the songs the price of the tracks goes up until it hits its peak of 98�. The company says that it takes about 98 downloads for the price to hit 98�. The Barenaked Ladies music selections have already hit that point and are listed at 98� apiece. Nettwerk's other artists are to be added over the upcoming months.

Amie Street, unlike iTunes, forces you to buy credits before you can purchase any tracks, but it also (like iTunes) allows you to choose whether to buy a full album or individual tracks. The album prices are affected by the prices of the single tracks so in reality you can purchase a DRM-free album for under a dollar if you get in early.

Hopefully many other record labels and groups will look at the sales of the Nettwerk artists and perhaps decide that DRM is not the way to go.

Source:
Arstechnica

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Discuss this article!
handsom (Senior Member) 8 March 2007 11:13
Thank goodness one of these new companies is making a splash. I have no qualms paying for music, but this DRM 'protection' is troublesome for a LOT of consumers. [ + quote]
vudoo (Member) 8 March 2007 13:52
Looks like I may cancel the Yahoo subscription and get some DRM FREE music for cheap and no viruses and no skipping or what we call the Napster Hick Up in the late 90's and until 2001. Well they finally done it right. Lets show our support by purchasing DRM Free material and without those damn users who don't know about computers. I have no probs with buying a FULL album either. [ + quote]
handsom (Senior Member) 8 March 2007 16:05
I agree, they have my support. Professional Grade Glass Etching - Get your favorite Game/Movie/Anime logos etched into glass, PM me for info. [ + quote]
voxaryx (Junior Member) 8 March 2007 17:19
If you want BNL legal, DRM-free and cheaper, try emusic.com. However, emusic doesn't have most major bands, so this is a promising step in the right direction. I wonder if the cut given to bands increases as the price increases, or if it's just extra profit for Amie Street? [ + quote]
handsom (Senior Member) 8 March 2007 17:30
I was turned off of emusic quickly. They had three major billing errors in the one month I was with them, excruciatingly limited music, and the worst technical support I've dealt with. In short: I absolutely hate emusic. I would sooner go from my 10mbps internet connection, to AOL then switch to emusic. Never on a cold day in hell. Sorry if that sounded bitter.... They screwed up real bad with me... Real bad. [ + quote]
moviegram (Junior Member) 12 March 2007 20:12
I started a free trial of emusic. You were supposed to be able to get 25 free downloads and join or quite. I couldn't find 25 I wanted. There was a bunch of tributes to known groups and kareoke stuff. Most real stuff they did have I have on older cds. [ + quote]
handsom (Senior Member) 13 March 2007 13:59
It's not really 'join or quit' it's join and deal with some awful AOL-level representative who is paid to keep you from cancelling. Professional Grade Glass Etching - Get your favorite Game/Movie/Anime logos etched into glass, PM me for info. [ + quote]