Introducing the iTunes Killer?

Amazon has launched the public beta of their MP3 downloads store and it looks like they are playing to win. Touring the interface gives you get a hint at why iTunes finally has some real competition.

1. 100% DRM free music. Amazon is strongly touting that your music purchases from them are playable on any system, any device.

2. 89 cent songs? Yep it's true for songs listed in Amazon's "Top 100" list.

3. 256k bit rate, easily trouncing iTunes 128 bit rate. This allows for a richer audio experience.

4. A million possibilities. Though the current offering is only one million songs, their catalog is pretty good. Record companies may play well with Amazon in an effort to undercut what they interpret as Apples iron-grip on their industry. In their minds it's probably a nice way to give Apple a good old kick to the groin.

5. The song browser is pretty snappy and uses the ubiquitous Adobe Flash to play back 30 second previews.

6. The interface is very simple to use and find things. A lot of designers could learn a lot from Amazon's implementation. The experience seem pretty nice front to back including the purchase flow path.

Conclusion: If someone asked me to rate Amazon's music store, I'd have to give it a 8 out of 10. Give it a spin, you might find it just as nice as I did. If you try it, post back here and let us know about your experience.

// Jaye Morris