AmazonMP3 Debuts: Offers Alluring Stats, Not-So-Alluring Interface

Amazon has released a beta of its long-awaited music download service. Does it stack up to the competition? (The competition being iTunes, of course.)

I wish I could say yes. I really do. I wish it were a worthy challenger to the juggernaut that is Apple’s online music store. But alas, it isn’t. By a long shot.

I won’t lie. AmazonMP3 has a number of perks going for it. All downloads from the service are less any DRM-protection, allowing one to freely choose from a wide range of software and portable devices and such through which to play back one’s purchases. And every one of the two-million-plus tracks available right this very moment are encoded at a 256-kbps bitrate, roughly double what most downloads from most other “popular” services on the Web are providing today. (A 256 kbps music file is very close in general quality to the equivalent track on a professionally produced CD.) Which is great. Decent sound, while not the most pressing item on many digital downloaders’ agendas, is a good thing to have. If nothing else, it gets you what you’re more or less paying for.

Unfortunately, those two factors, however wonderful they indeed are, are in no way enough to push this new Amazon storefront into the realm of Big Online Successes.

Here’s why: It’s Amazon.com.

Now, now, hold on. I know how successful Amazon is as an online retailer. It’s grown to enormous heights over the years. I understand that full well. But when it comes to digital downloads – not purchases of physical CDs – consumers have proven year after year that ease of use is of the utmost importance. Yes, people want great prices, and some services do provide music fans with the option to spend even less than they would on iTunes. But overall, if we’re talking big picture, the lovely all-in-one experience Apple provides with its music service, the neat, attractive package the company has crafted, making browsing through their online catalogue as easy as buying from it simply has not been beaten – and certainly will not be seriously challenged by this new delivery by Amazon, particularly in its current form.

That said, I’m going to be pulling for this service anyway. I know it won’t supplant iTunes (funnily enough, as of this moment, it’s not the easiest to find; one is required to scroll about halfway down the retailer’s Music section to get to the right place), but the combination of good audio quality and songs free of copy protection frustrations makes for an attractive alternative to the still mostly DRMed iTunes Music Store selection. Sure, iTunes Plus is there, but that library-within-a-library is woefully limited at present. Perhaps when the New Year comes around, Steve Jobs’ proclamation of a completely DRM-free iTunes Store will ring true, and we can all stop dealing with all this forced copyright protection nonsense.

In the meantime, I think I might just try to assimilate to the AmazonMP3 store a bit. I’ve held out on many purchases involving digital downloads due to DRM restrictions. I suppose shopping AmazonMP3 for those desired titles couldn’t hurt too much.

To wrap up, if you’re looking for a service with no strings attached, that lets you mate music downloads with just about any portable music player under the sun, AmazonMP3 could very well become your source of choice. It’s not the most pleasurable shopping experience available to consumers today, but it’s hardly a terrible one, either.

By the bye, if you’re looking for a sweet deal, Mellon Collie, a whopping 2-disc-large arrangement (a total of 28 tracks) is available for a mere $9. That’s a steal if there ever was one. Heck, I think I might just snatch that pick up for myself.