Thursday, 9 August 2007

Amazon Invests In DRM Music Free Site

The world’s largest online retailer, Amazon.com has invested in a website AmieStreet.com that sells music uploaded by members based on popularity...

The world’s largest online retailer, Amazon.com has invested in a website AmieStreet.com that sells music uploaded by members based on popularity.

Three American university students launched AmieStreet in October last year. Breaking with the convention where there’s a fixed price for all songs being downloaded, amiestreet sells songs to members based on their popularity by using a variable pricing model where more popular songs increase in price.

A new song on AmieStreet.com is initially free to download and is given a starting price after users begin to download the song. The price rises to a maximum of 98 cents.

Details of Amazon.com’s investment in the site, as part of a first round of funding, were not revealed.