Amazon to sell music free of copy controls

SEATTLE, May 16 (UPI) -- Seattle online retailer Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday it would launch a music-download store selling all songs without anti-copying protection.

The company said its store would have "millions of songs" in MP3 format "from more than 12,000 record labels," without the copy protection technology known as digital rights management.

"Our MP3-only strategy means all the music that customers buy on Amazon is always DRM-free and plays on any device," Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said.

Amazon said the store would launch with music from Britain's EMI Music, which agreed last month to let Apple Inc.'s iTunes and others to sell its music without copy protection.

Apple plans to start selling EMI's songs in MP3 format this month.

Amazon did not announce its launch date, nor did it offer other store details, including music pricing.

It also did not name any music labels besides EMI. The New York Times said the other labels would be independent music companies that have chosen not to use the copy-restricting software.

The other major music labels -- notably Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group -- have so far been reluctant to forgo copy protection.