Amazon MP3 is the music downloading arm of Amazon.com, an online retailer that started out in books and branched out into selling diverse categories of products. The major benefit of the Amazon music download site is that its songs are DRM-Free. Unlike tracks purchased from most other online music stores, Amazon.com MP3s can be played on iPods, cell phones, or just about any other digital audio playback device. The store contains about 2 million songs, half of which are priced at $0.89, the rest at $0.99. Album prices are mostly in the $6-$10 range.

Amazon offers a media downloader application (Mac and PC versions available) that adds the MP3s to your iTunes or Windows Media Player library automatically for easy syncing, burning, and playback. Or, you can also choose not to use the downloader application; and since the songs are in the MP3 format, there's nothing stopping you from using just about any music playback software you choose.

Amazon.com also uses its information on which CDs you've bought in the past to present you with MP3 album recommendations right off the bat. The recommendations it presents are pretty much on target. If you see stuff that doesn't mesh with your taste listed there, you can alter the recommendations by rating albums or checking boxes for "I own it" or "Not Interested" under the album on the recommendation list, or as you browse the site in general.

Aside from EMI and other labels that have sold DRM-free music in the past, Amazon.com says its store includes music catalogs from a number of other labels that have never sold their music online in unprotected form before: Alligator Records, HighTone Records, Madacy Entertainment, Sanctuary Records, Rounder Records, Righteous Babe Records, Sugar Hill Records, and Trojan Records.

The biggest drawback to the Amazon site is the lack of the latest albums and songs. In the beginning, only the smallest major label, EMI, had allowed its entire catalog to be sold online DRM-free, giving Apple and other music downloading sites, especially free ones like EZ-Tracks, a major advantage in that area. Things changed in January 2008, when other major labels joined the fold, but the selection still isn't fantastic as many labels still eschew the DRM-free world. Also, the drawback of having to pay for the songs remains. Another big negative is that not all Amazon mp3 files are watermarked, which means there is no indication that Amazon is where you bought the tunes from.