Wednesday, December 3,2008 @ 12:25pm
Amazon quietly expands MP3 store to UK
Amazon today in a low-key rollout introduced Amazon MP3 for UK, its first non-US version of its online download store. The British version follows the same approach as the US store and lets users buy unprotected songs and albums that can be used with any device and, through a sync app, can automatically transfer to iTunes or Windows Media Player.
The launch is limited primarily to major labels and excludes most of the catalogs of well-known British groups like Arctic Monkeys or Oasis but also contains significantly more variable pricing than for immediate rivals like iTunes, mirroring Amazon MP3's US policy. Where Apple pricing is fixed at £0.79 per song, Amazon pricing varies from as little as £0.59p to over £0.80p depending on the currency and popularity of the content. Certain albums are also steeply discounted and include recent titles that are selling for as little as £3 from Kings of Leon and other major groups.
The expansion into the UK supports an earlier rumor of a British Amazon MP3 launch before the end of the year as well as Amazon's more official plans to expand its music sales into other countries with official Amazon web stores, such as Canada, France and Japan. [via Music Ally]