Amazon.com, headed by Jeff Bezos, is launching an update to its music store that puts it in competition with Apple’s iTunes in the digital-music arena. (Reuters)
Want to buy “Gangnam Style” from Amazon for 69 cents on your iPhone?
Now you can, thanks to a new update that allows Apple phone and tablet owners to tap into Amazon’s 22 million-title music store, called Amazon MP3.
Amazon announced the news yesterday, placing it into direct competition with Apple’s iTunes store — which dominates digital-music sales.
Amazon won’t be paying Apple the typical iTunes cut of 30 percent of sales, however.
Its music store is simply being optimized for the Safari browser; it’s not an application.
“Since the launch of the Amazon Cloud Player app for iPhone and iPod touch, a top request from customers has been the ability to buy music from Amazon right from their devices,” Amazon Music vice president Steve Boom said in a statement.
Amazon’s move to steal business from Apple’s iTunes store comes amid stepped-up competition for digital-music sales.
Google is also trying to muscle into the game via Google Play, but its effort lags far behind.
Amazon will have some hefty catching up to do as well, if it wants to really do battle with Apple.
Consultants at Asymco suggest iTunes’ gross revenue was $12 billion in 2012 and that app sales accounted for a third of that figure — while other content, such as media and music, accounted for the rest.
Apple’s digital store will be 10 years old in April.
Amazon, headed by Jeff Bezos, said last week it was launching a new “autorip” feature that would provide corresponding MP3 files for all music purchases from Amazon.
Amazon has been hammering competitors on every front, challenging Netflix on TV and movie streaming, and Barnes & Noble on the e-book front.
The Seattle e-commerce giant reports its fourth-quarter earnings Jan. 29.
The stock closed yesterday at $270.48, up 0.6 percent.