See I’m still not sure. I don’t listen to most of the crap they play on the radio, and I like to listen to bands that most people haven’t heard of. I don’t expect them to cater to my tastes, though.

I don’t listen to, as you put it, the “crap on the radio” either. I have an extreme dislike for American popular music right now, including everything from Fall Out Boy to Fergie to Soulja Boy. Very little good American music has come out for about ten years now. (I’m still on good terms with what’s coming from across the Atlantic, though.) However, most of my music collection is from better-known artists, and these are usually the guys I have been able to find on Amazon. Some of my music is from lesser-known acts, and it has been more problematic to find that stuff on Amazon. Still, I’m not too bothered by this, as they have enough of a selection to keep me happy for a while.

As for the selection, I don’t think it is as bad as you all make it out to be. They seem to have EMI on board, I found some Warner stuff, and there are quite a few independent artists listed. Many of the artists I listen to are on there already, so I’m satisfied thus far.

See I’m still not sure. I don’t listen to most of the crap they play on the radio, and I like to listen to bands that most people haven’t heard of. I don’t expect them to cater to my tastes, though.

. . . there is also a large tech-savvy audience that understands the restrictions that DRM applies to media, and I think that they would give this a shot.

Exactly. There are also the friends and relatives of the tech-savvy users, don’t forget. I highly doubt that Amazon will usurp iTunes as the largest online store, however I do think that it has the potential of being successful in its own right, not to mention the ability to scrape a little off the top of iTunes’ user base. As Ryan so wisely said, a little competition never hurt.

As for the selection, I don’t think it is as bad as you all make it out to be. They seem to have EMI on board, I found some Warner stuff, and there are quite a few independent artists listed. Many of the artists I listen to are on there already, so I’m satisfied thus far.

iPod owners are not going to shop here if the software they use to manage their iPods has a built-in store. It’s what made Internet Explorer popular when they started bundling it with Windows: laziness.

That is true, but there is also a large tech-savvy audience that understands the restrictions that DRM applies to media, and I think that they would give this a shot.

Selection will come after other companies start to see how popular this can become. I don’t think companies will be such sticklers that they’ll lose out on a lot of sales simply because of the DRM-free offering.

Personally, I’m not going to give AmazonMP3 a try as they only accept credit cards. (If I want to refill my iTunes account, I have to buy a gift card.)