Amazon faces backlash over "music locker" service (Reuters)

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 11:01 AM

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A newborn Amazon.com Inc assist that lets customers accumulation songs and endeavor them on a variety of phones and computers is covering a oppose from the penalization playing that could combust a jural battle.

Amazon's Cloud Drive, declared on Tuesday, allows customers to accumulation penalization files on the company's Web servers instead of their possess hornlike drives and endeavor them over an Internet connection direct from Web browsers and on phones running Google Inc's Android software.

Amazon beat rivals Google and Apple Inc into the mart for "music locker" services, which are meant to appeal to consumers frustrated by the complexities of storing their favorite songs at work, bag and on their smartphones. Apple and Google were due to start their services at the end of terminal year.

Shares of Amazon chromatic nearly 3 percent, but Cloud Drive may push the consort into jural wear area.

Sony Music, bag to artists such as Shakira and Kings of Leon, was status by Amazon's selection to start the assist without newborn licenses for penalization streaming, said spokeswoman Liz Young.

"We hope that they'll reach a newborn license deal," Young said, "but we're ownership every of our jural options open."

Music labels were alerted of the plans terminal week. Only later did Amazon address the issue of negotiating licenses, digit maker near to the discussions said.

That chief titled the advise "somewhat stunning" and said whatever within the media playing said the assist strength illegal.

"I've never seen a consort of their filler attain an announcement, start a assist and simultaneously feature they're trying to intend licenses," said the executive, who requested anonymity because the discussions were not public.

In 2007, EMI sued MP3tunes, which offered a similar service. Consumers are allowed to accumulation penalization files on their possess computers, but it is blurred whether they hit that correct when they use far hardware services offered by cloud computing.

Amazon's assist is conception of Amazon's plan to be a bigger player in the digital noesis playing and reduce its certainty on the income of CDs and books.

"They don't hit activity in digital formats," said BGC Partners shrink Colin Gillis. "The incoming big vie is locker services -- that's what we want."

Gillis said he due Google to inform a far penalization hardware assist in May and for Apple to study meet in June.

Although Amazon's assist lets users center to penalization from most computers or phones regardless of where they bought the song, it will not impact on Apple's iPhones or hit an "app" on that company's devices.

Amazon said customers would initially intend 5 gigabytes of liberated storage, enough for 1,000 to 1,250 songs. They can acquire added 20 gigabytes for $20 a year.

Alternatively, a client can intend an raise to 20 gigabytes of liberated hardware with the acquire of some MP3 info medium from Amazon. New penalization purchases from Amazon saved direct to the cloud assist will not count against some hardware quota.

Users can save penalization files in MP3 as substantially as the AAC format, which is the accepted for Apple's iTunes service.

Amazon is also offering Cloud Player, which will allow penalization fans to center to, download and attain playlists on some Web browser as substantially as some covering using Google's Android operative system.

Shares of Amazon were up 2.6 proportionality at $173.81 in salutation trading, patch Google chromatic 0.6 proportionality to $579.00. Apple lapse 0.5 proportionality to $348.80. (Additional news by Yinka Adegoke, Apostle Thomasch and Kenneth Li in New royalty and Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Lisa Von Ahn)


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