September 12, 2007

By By Antony Bruno, Denver

The much-anticipated music service from Amazon could go live as early as Tuesday, Billboard.biz has learned. The company has been testing the service internally for the last several weeks, and is presenting the results to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for final approval.

According to one well-placed source, his approval will mean an immediate launch on Tuesday. However it could be delayed for weeks if he is not satisfied.

The pending service has generated both high expectations and interest for several reasons. First, the e-tailer sells a large portion of CDs via its online store today, and a digital addition is expected to be a serious competitor to Apple's popular iTunes service.

Additionally, Amazon has taken the unique step of selling music only in unprotected MP3 format. While this means that only tracks from EMI and certain releases from Universal Music Group, not to mention a number of independents, will be available, they also will work with the iPod. Warner Music Group and Sony BMG have not yet agreed to sell their music without DRM protection.

Amazon also is planning a tiered pricing scheme that will sell new releases at one price, and older tracks at another. In all, the Amazon digital service will have four pricing tiers, which major labels find attractive.

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