Amazon offers free digital copies of previously purchased CDs

[Jos]

Amazon has just announced a new service that gives customers free digital versions of any physical CDs they’ve purchased from the online retailer since the launch of its music store back in 1998. Dubbed Amazon AutoRip, the service applies to the 50,000 most popular albums of the past 15 years, including CDs from the largest three record labels and hundreds of independent labels and artists.

AutoRip doesn't require users to take any action to switch on the option. Previous purchases of qualifying albums should start appearing on user's Cloud Player libraries, and those who have never signed up to or downloaded the software will receive an email notifying them of their free digital copies.

Amazon’s Cloud Player allows anyone to store up to 250 songs at no cost while a premium tier costs $24.99 annually for up to 250,000, 256kbps audio files -- similar to Apple's iTunes Match minus the free option.

The service works with Kindle Fire devices, Android phones and tablets, the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, Roku, Sonos, Samsung smart TVs and DVD players, and most recently on Ford’s AppLink platform. With the company's tablets now in more consumers' hands, Amazon is hoping the new service encourages more people to use its cloud music service and boost digital music sales. Amazon's MP3 digital music business has been around since 2007, but its market share is less than 15%, according to the NPD Group.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/51295-amazon-offers-free-digital-copies-of-previously-purchased-cds.html

 

[Guest]

[FONT=Arial]I hope this starts a trend - I've thought this is how it should work for a long time. We're buying the media not renting a license. Hopefully this will be extended to movies as well.[/FONT]

 

[Guest]

OMG...they got it, finally!
This should be STANDARD practice (or even enforced by the law) for everything that comes from a digital source. If I buy something in physical form I should get the digital version too, included, for free and always.
That's the main reason I never buy any vhs/cd/dvd/bluray/next-tech. It's just something that will be obsolete in a few years. If I like a film so much that I want a copy at home I want it to work "forever". Oh right...that's not what the industry wants.

 

[Guest]

IMO the right thing to do.

 

[9Nails]

I would swear that they offered this before, but the RIAA shut it down. Said that consumers didn't own the rights to the MP3 files, and that Amazon didn't have a license to broadcast music from their cloud service.

 

[grumpiman]

A bit strange actually, but a nice bonus since most of the CDs I bought on Amazon were gifts for others.

 

[LNCPapa]

This is a great move by Amazon IMO. Hope others follow suit.

 

[captaincranky]

Unless Amazon wants to take this to the Supreme Court in support of an individuals right to do it, I'd just as soon do it myself.

S*** like this, is all the psychos at the RIAA need to get themselves funded for additional rounds of "attempted copyright legislation by litigation".... Which is why I bookmarked this, "RIAA believes MP3s are a Crime": http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/01/riaa-believes-m/#previouspost years ago!

 

[PC nerd]

Nice one. I love Amazon.

If the industries/governments are so desperate to reduce piracy, they should be endorsing this kind of stuff.

A fairly priced alternative.

 

[captaincranky]

A fairly priced alternative.

Thanks for taking the time to explain to us that, "free", is a "fair price".

 

[PC nerd]

A fairly priced alternative.

Thanks for taking the time to explain to us that, "free", is a "fair price".

Stealing money from amateur bands isn't fair.

 

[PC nerd]

Thanks for taking the time to explain to us that, "free", is a "fair price".

What I meant was that companies should be offering deals like this, to get more people interested in buying music.

No need to be pedantic.

 

[captaincranky]

What I meant was that companies should be offering deals like this, to get more people interested in buying music.

No need to be pedantic.

Look, if you're going to make serially inexplicable conclusions, and state the patently self evident on top of it, then there is indeed, a need for pedantry.

First, if you have a CD sold at Amazon.com, you're not an "amateur". Once a woman takes money for a sex act, then she is a "working pro". And so it goes with musicians. Who, BTW generally perform live, and sell their CDs at those concerts, on their way to becoming "journeyman musicians". They call that, "paying your dues". And lo and behold, not ten years later, many do indeed become, "overnight sensations"!

Second, after learning to turn a PC on, the next step is to learn how to generate media, and by that I mean optical media, and digital media, such as MP-3.

Now we have Amazon magnanimously announcing they're going to, "do you a big favor" by converting your CDs to MP-3s for free. Unless they're going to take on the RIAA about this, I can live without it. My, my, people sure have become incompetent and needy, when they need Amazon to rip a CD for them.

That should be right up there with the, "right to keep and bear arms", the "right to rip your own plastic to your your goddamned iPod". Along with the will and wherewithal to do it

As to how this helps "amateur bands", I'm sorry but I can barely see even the most remote correlation.

So, someone had the extreme bad taste to buy a Kanye West CD, and Amazon will now copy it to digital format, gratis. I can't see how that helps anyone, and it will regrettably encourage him to make another.

 

[Guest]

A kanye west CD isn't bad taste

that's just bittersweet poetry

 

[captaincranky]

A kanye west CD isn't bad taste

that's just bittersweet poetry

Are we having our first, "more taste, or less filling", staged beer commercial argument?

What was "bittersweet", was muting the TV sound, so as not to have to listen to his "foul racist mouth" (*), and watching him dance around in a leather skirt, at the "Concert for Sandy". "The whole leather clad African-Scottish Highlander schtick was just plain boorish and obnoxious. (as usual).

OTOH, what I find glorious, is putting on a Taylor Swift CD, and having it play all the way through, without him interrupting it.

(*) Excuse me, I meant "bittersweet poetry".

 

[Guest]

His words aren't that foul. I've heard much worse on cartoon shows. Beyonce did have one of the best videos of all time though. Kid speaks the truth. A lot of celebs wear stupid things at various events anyway, They both have their flaws. He cashes in on foul language and she cashes in on old boyfriends. I think they're both pretty decent artists though so I'm somewhat biased . They have the sales to back it up though.

 

[captaincranky]

His words aren't that foul. I've heard much worse on cartoon shows.

Where, in hentai manga porn?

Beyonce did have one of the best videos of all time though. Kid speaks the truth.

So, we should give Kanye style points for interrupting Ms. Swift during her moment to shine? So what, Taylor Swift should thank West for his loutish behavior. The CMA piled just about every award known to country music on her that year. I suspect it was partly due to her dignity in persevering through his BS. Or was she just afraid of him? The more likely of the two scenarios.

A lot of celebs wear stupid things at various events anyway.

I'm going to stick with the "better stupid choices". like split skirts and see through blouses on the women. Oh yeah, and lots of Lycra.

They both have their flaws. He cashes in on foul language and she cashes in on old boyfriends. I think they're both pretty decent artists though so I'm somewhat biased . They have the sales to back it up though.

"Someone once said, you can't fool all the people, all the time", and I said, "who says, explain Justin Beiber then".

Sales don't always equate to quality. Granted Beyonce has a decent set of pipes, and KW isn't a thuggish or dead, as Tupoc. So what?

Moving on, the RIAA believes that people turning their own CDs, (or video tapes), into other formats is "illegal".

With that said, to have Amazon copy your music for you does two things. One, it's "proof of purchase". Two, it either conflicts with, or panders to, the RIAA's twisted, greedy belief system.

As "computer owners" seem to be continually spiraling downward into the depths of stupidity and madness. The iPad seems to be the entertainment umbilical cord for imbeciles everywhere. Without optical drives, it's the perfect vehicle for "people herding", into the controlled pen of the media mogul's stockyard. And like an umbilical cord in the womb, if you get cut off from it, you die. (In a manner of speaking, of course). So, you sit around and complain about the price of wireless internet, with no way to make mix CDs on your own, and the RIAA wins.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

captaincranky - Lol, Excellent point about Beiber, but I think he falls into 'fooling some of the people all the time.' right next to 2009's nobel peace prize winner.

Also good point about the lack of opitcal drives in people's computers. I wonder if that contributed to this decision. I can see why the RIAA is upset though. Lots of lost and forgotten music will be put back out there for free. That doesn't mean they've got any legal standing in the matter, but I see their point. Also, it'd be pretty easy to give a friend access to your amazon account and let them download what they want.

This could probably help sales in the long run though. New people listning to old music will only result in a more of those same albums being bought for friends, or other albums by the same artists being purchased.

 

[Guest]

Who exact;y is justin bieber fooling? A teenage/youngadult singer with huge female following isn't anything new and that's been the primary audience for a majority if not all of his songs. Kanye apologized for what he did and was subsequently and humorously interrupted at an awards show sometime later. At least swift accepted his apology. She doesn't seem to hold a grudge. I'm quite sure that lady gaga person puts kanye west to shame with nearly anything she wears. There hasn't been a decent president since Reagan anyway. All the ones after him seem to be incompetent

 

[captaincranky]

Who exact;y is justin bieber fooling? A teenage/youngadult singer with huge female following isn't anything new and that's been the primary audience for a majority if not all of his songs.

IMHO, Beiber missed his true calling. He would have made a fine stunt double for Paris Hilton. If someone were to get hurt, no harm, no foul. They're both expendable.

Kanye apologized for what he did and was subsequently and humorously interrupted at an awards show sometime later. At least swift accepted his apology. She doesn't seem to hold a grudge.

Celebrities tend to apologize for personal and career reasons. In short, each of these parties would have lost more face and prestige, by respectively not apologizing, or not accepting the offered apology. That's just how life works in the public arena. I'm not a public figure, and I have no intention of living under those guidelines. Either Mr. West has some serious impulse control issues, or he is, (was?), of the opinion that the big city African American girl, is (was?) more "entitled" to the award than the little white farm girl. In any case, I'm quite a bit older than both of them, but my long term memory is functioning just fine, thank you very much.

I'm quite sure that lady gaga person puts kanye west to shame with nearly anything she wears.

This comparison is so far beyond any meaningful relevance, you're either joking, or you should apologize for interrupting me... Lady Gaga puts even every openly gay performer, past and present, to shame. This includes, but is not limited to, Liberace, Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Tommie Tunes, and the entire cast of the "Village People". She competes in an entirely different category. If you want the most extravagant male displays, you'll have to look toward the natural world, namely in the baboon, and Asian pheasant species. You know "pea fowl".

There hasn't been a decent president since Reagan anyway. All the ones after him seem to be incompetent

In reality, there was one, and possibly one of our best, William Jefferson Clinton. I think everybody was so involved in following his extramarital antics, they never realized what a great leader he was. C'mon, a Democrat with a budget surplus. What the heck is wrong with that?

OTOH, I've always remarked of George W. Bush, "it's a pity he wasn't a Kennedy". Because if he were, they would have stored him in an attic somewhere, instead of The White House.

 

[Guest]

That would be such a minimal effect for Taylor Swift not to accept Kanye's apology career wise and there would probably be a greater amount of the people in support of Taylor for not accepting.

Kanye has been on that impulsive streak seemingly since his early days. That along with how he dresses is what sets him apart from other people. Whether or not he felt that she may have been entitled to the award that she would later go on to win that night, he just felt he had to say it. Kanye's public image was somewhat marred by the event but I don't think that heavily influences his constant apologies and the song he wrote following the event, but he did quiet down a bit and was pretty serene when seen at certain events.