mjmooney Posted June 27, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted June 27, 2013 I thought this was worth its own topic. Go check your Amazon cloud drive... Amazon advances with Autorip - who can compete?Comments (173) More from Rory The long wait for rural broadband BT boss goes in to bat for Britain Dialogue of the deaf? Founders Forum - betting on our tech future Where and how do you buy music these days? If it's a CD or vinyl, you've a choice between a high street store or an online retailer like Amazon. If it's a digital download, you're most likely to be buying it from iTunes. Now Amazon is launching a service designed to make it a one-stop shop for physical and digital music products. And that raises the question - why on earth have its rivals sat and watched this happen? Amazon's new AutoRip service means that whenever you buy a CD or a vinyl album you also get free mp3 versions. What is more, customers who have bought physical music from the online retailer in the past will find that it is now all available in digital form in Amazon's CloudPlayer. This could be rather scary - Amazon started selling CDs in the UK back in 1999, and you may find the evidence of your past musical tastes rather distressing. But how attractive will this feature really be? You might think most music fans were rapidly abandoning CDs for digital downloads, so that this kind of hybrid service would soon be irrelevant. “Start Quote The incumbents in industries threatened by digital disruption have gone through a cycle of complacency followed by mild concern and then panic” Paul Firth, head of music for Amazon UK, tells me he's confident there is a large body of consumers for whom Autorip will be attractive. The company still shifts a lot of CDs, and the sales are growing in the UK, which means that it has a growing share of a shrinking market. In the US, where the service has been live since January, it has helped grow sales - those CDs which are licensed for Autorip are selling faster than those that aren't. "It gives us a better customer offer," says Mr Firth."We're uniquely placed to offer people the chance to listen to what they want across both physical and digital." So an American business which is already the dominant force in book retailing in the UK, both physical and digital, is now bidding to carve out a big slice of the music market too. Of course another American firm, Apple, will have plenty to say about that - but it's worth asking why no British retailer is in the running. We have some of the world's most successful artists, and a great music culture , but we've failed to develop a company that could adapt to the digital age and rival Apple and Amazon in the business of selling music to consumers. There was one obvious candidate. Back in the mid-90s when Amazon got underway, this UK firm was a retail powerhouse, selling music, videos and books, and with ties to a major music label. It continued to grow into the next decade, and while it was somewhat slow to spot the threat from digital competition, it did then launch a major drive to modernise the way it engaged with consumers, as explained in the company's 2008 Annual Report: "As digital delivery becomes a reality across a wider range of our product categories," it said, "we are now poised to grow faster." That company was HMV, which went into administration in January this year. Sadly its various efforts at selling music online or offering downloads with physical purchases to selected customers were too little, too late, and never added up to a coherent digital strategy. HMV - a wasted opportunity? For too long, the company focussed on holding on to what it had - a profitable high street operation - rather than advancing onto new territory. Of course, in that HMV is far from alone. Worldwide, the incumbents in all kinds of industries threatened by digital disruption have gone through a cycle of complacency followed by mild concern and then panic - look at Kodak and its reaction to digital photography. And some would point to another reason why American web giants can prosper at the expense of home-grown businesses. Amazon, as we've all heard recently, is among those companies making use of perfectly legal tax avoidance measures to reduce its corporation tax payments to just £2.4m last year. Independent bookshops are already angry about competition from a firm they see as enjoying an unfair advantage. Now the UK's remaining record stores - including HMV's new owners - face a rival who can offer consumers CDs, vinyl and downloads all in one package at a very keen price. Music fans may still have a sentimental attachment to the record stores - but who would bet against them spending their money with Amazon? BBC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 I have bought alot of CD's from amazon over the years, and not a single one is appearing in my cloud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leemond2008 Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 I'm not sure on this idea, for people who buy cd's I suppose it is great and will make it easier to transfer stuff onto there Ipods etc, but it won't really add any incentive for people like me to go out and buy the CD's. In the past four years I have bought 2 cd's and I got them home put them on my Ipod and then gave them away to someone at work the following day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted June 27, 2013 Author VT Supporter Share Posted June 27, 2013 1800 songs have suddenly appeared in mine. Check Cloud Player, not Cloud Drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 There are two songs in mine, and they're only there because the band in question have this frustratingly pretentious obfuscatory approach to their music and Amazon was quite literally the only place I could get them. Now, if Bandcamp where to implement a similar tool it'd probably explode my laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Cheers MJMooney, they appeared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 I think this is a great idea. So long HMV, thanks for the saturday afternoon memories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted June 27, 2013 Moderator Share Posted June 27, 2013 I even got an album I've never even heard ofTo the Rescue by Horsepower Productions - its shite 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted June 27, 2013 Author VT Supporter Share Posted June 27, 2013 Yeah, same here - Boxcar Racer. Also shite. I wonder if they are throwing in a free gift for everyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted June 27, 2013 Moderator Share Posted June 27, 2013 Seeing this thread, I just went on there and it doesn't just work - it says "...actually scratch that, It just got there.3022Albums250Artists164Genres17dunno what that exactly means, mind you. Other than I spent too much money on Amazon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted June 27, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted June 27, 2013 1 album. YES! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Moss Icon, Leftover Crack, and Mike Patton It's awwright~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 so if you buy someone a CD as a gift you get it as a download for yourself too? i'll be using that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Excellent stuff - like this a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 (edited) It would be absolutely awesome if they could also do it for films... Only one album is showing up for me. I have definitely bought more than that from Amazon. It's not even a good one either - it's one that I bought as present Edited June 27, 2013 by JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dAVe80 Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Just checked this out. Brilliant! Been looking for my copy of Blue by Joni Mitchell for ages, and now I can listen to it here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 31 songs! Today I learned I have only ever bought one album from Amazon. 12,173 tracks on my Google cloud player though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC_Hitz Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Great. I've bought two albums off of Amazon. A Gregorian chant album in 2007 and a Stereophonics album from 2009 Living the dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 31 songs! Today I learned I have only ever bought one album from Amazon. 12,173 tracks on my Google cloud player though. How much does this google cloud contraption cost? (say for 5000 songs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted June 27, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted June 27, 2013 31 songs! Today I learned I have only ever bought one album from Amazon. 12,173 tracks on my Google cloud player though. How much does this google cloud contraption cost? (say for 5000 songs). 20000 song are free, but you upload them yourself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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