December 27, 2007

By By Lars Brandle, London

Warner Music Group has begun selling DRM-free downloads through Amazon.com.

With effect from today, WMG has ended its MP3 hold-out by offering works from its digital audio catalog to buy from Amazon MP3, the online retailer's DRM-free download store which opened for business on Sept. 25.

WMG has also agreed to sell a range of digital products through Amazon, including album bundles containing exclusive tracks.

"Our customers are delighted with our DRM-free MP3 service," comments Bill Carr, Amazon.com VP of digital music, in a joint statement issued today. "With the addition of great Warner Music Group content," he adds, "our customers will discover even more of the music they love on Amazon MP3."

Carr claims the firm has received "thousands of emails" from its well-wishing customers since the September launch. Amazon's download store boasts more than 2.9 million titles licensed from over 33,000 record labels.

With today's development, all four majors have committed to stripping-out DRM from their respective catalogs. WMG follows suit behind EMI and Universal Music, while Sony BMG is expected to make its first foray into the MP3 format when it launches artist-specific digital download album cards in mid-January.

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