Site icon Netimperative

Amazon takes on iTunes with cloud music relaunch

Amazon is set to relaunch its digital locker offer next month after agreeing licensing deals with all four majors.

Like Google, Amazon launched a music-focused online storage service in the US last year without any licences from record companies or music publishers.
The original iteration of Amazon Cloud Player, which was only ever made available in the US, saw users uploading digital copies of their legit DRM-free music files and then streaming them from wherever.
The online retail giant argued that its customers could upload copies of digital files to its servers without infringing copyright, utilising their private copyright.
While execs at the majors disagreed, arguing that the locker’s playback function was not covered by the private copyright, talks have nevertheless been ongoing.
But the new deals, reportedly inked with the four major music labels (Sony, Universal, EMI and Warner), will likely see Amazon able to scan a user’s music collection and make digital versions available without all the tedious uploading.
All Amazon accounts come with 5GB of free Cloud Drive storage, with more available to purchase as and when you need it – although all Amazon MP3 purchases can be stored for free.
Amazon is set to relaunch its Cloud Player digital locker with an iTunes-Match style service thanks to new deals struck with record labels.
The new version of Cloud Player is expected to land in the US in July with a European rollout reportedly set for later in the year.

Exit mobile version