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This blogger, Richard Gehr, is not an employee of AARP. The opinions expressed in the blog are not necessarily the opinions of AARP and AARP assumes no liability for the content posted by Mr. Gehr or any other participant

Richard Gehr | September 26, 2007

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  • Amazon's new MP3 download service, transparently called Amazon MP3, opened for business yesterday. I celebrated by dl'ing (as they say) Pierre Boulez and Der Bayerischen Rundfunk's version of Olivier Messiaen's Oiseaux Exotiques. You need to download an application, but the installation process is quick and painless. At $.089, this lovely thirteen-minute piece costs a dime less than at competitor iTunes. Most new albums cost $8.99 or $9.99, with a suprisingly large number available for $7.99 and less. Following subscription service eMusic's lead (disclosure: I write eMusic's international column), Amazon MP3s blessedly lack Apple's infamous DRM (digital rights management) limitations, i.e. I can copy it to as many devices as I want rather than the five "authorized" devices Apple allows. Amazon boasts 2.5 million tracks in its store, while iTunes has 6 million and eMusic more than 2 million. Unlike iTunes, Amazon does not yet sell the catalogs of the Warner Music Group and Sony BMG but that could always change depending on profits. Bottom Amazon MP3 line: so far so good.

  • Bruce Springsteen played an Asbury Park benefit dress rehearsal for his upcoming tour with the E Street Band on Monday and Tuesday. He premiered seven new songs from his upcoming album Magic.

  • Under pressure from his three-year-old daughter Beatrice, Paul McCartney may write the songs and score for the fourth Shrek film.

  • James Taylor's One Man Band, a CD and DVD documenting a couple of summer performances, will be released in November. The one-man-band himself begins a month-long tour with a benefit show October 20 in Richmond, Virginia. His tour ends November 16 in Reno, Nevada.

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