(28 December 2007 6:25 pm)

MUMBAI: Warner Music Group (WMG) has joined forces with Internet store Amazon.com for making its music available for download in MP3 format without digital rights management (DRM) copy protection from AmazonMP3.

Warner has so far been a strong believer in DRM technology, which is a kind of digital encryption that vendors place on music files to prevent illegal copying, distribution and piracy. The continuing dominance of Apple's iTunes store may have forced Warner to have a rethink.

This move of Warner will allow people to download tracks in the universal MP3 format that can be played on most digital music devices, including Apple iPods, Microsoft Zunes, mobile phones and any piece of software such as the Windows Media Player.

AmazonMP3, after this deal, will offer more than 2.9 million songs from over 33,000 record labels in DRM-free format.

AmazonMP3 has priced about one-third of its songs at 89 cents each, below the standard iTunes price of 99 cents. However, it is currently available to US customers only.