Internet retailer Amazon.com may be preparing to by the end of the year, according to a report in The Wallstreet Journal. The new service would bring yet another player to an already crowded that includes Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Napster, and RealNetworks. "Amazon has held talks with record-label executives in the past two weeks about licensing music, according to people familiar with the discussions. Amazon of Seattle has discussed a music offering that would include options such as song-by-song downloads and a monthly subscription service, those people say. Amazon has discussed tapping MusicNet, a New York distributor of digital music, to support the service, people familiar with the talks say. Amazon indicated that it is interested in launching a digital-music service in the fourth quarter of this year." [subscription required]