Amazon’s Mp3 service has become the second largest online music service in the world. Bold statement, but when you consider that it has been estimated to have sold around 130 million tracks compared to iTunes’ 2.8 billion, suddenly we start to see the reality of the situation. 

I’m not saying in any way that Amazon’s Mp3 service is a bad thing, for the experience is very good for something as disconnected as Amazon is. Of course, what goes against Amazon is the tightly knit store that iTunes has, which makes buying so much easier. I mean, with Genius you can buy tracks right from your sidebar! Or while on the move with your iPhone or iPod Touch. People much too much prefer the iTunes way than something that involves a step 2. 

Of course, iTunes DRM is hardly crippling. With upto five authorised computers and as many iPods as you can afford, FairPlay really is fairplay. You can burn as many CDs as you want, and possibly rerip them to break the protection. It is just the arrogance of DRM that makes a paying customer look like a thief, while the real thief can in fact move around freely with music. And the fact that the record companies choose to treat their largest customer base like this is a sad thing.

All is not lost however, as we’re seeing more and more ‘rumours’ about iTunes going DRM-free, one of which claimed that iTunes was definitely going DRM-free last tuesday. And when we see such an increase in rumours, the possibilities of it being true are very high. Macworld, perhaps. 

Personally I’ve never bought music from Amazon, being an iTunes Store user myself, but looking at the interface I would much too much prefer to buy music from the iTunes Store. Any SA readers buy music from Amazon? What’s your opinion on buying music from Amazon? Would you ditch Amazon if iTunes went DRM-free?

[Full report on Yahoo! News]