14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, Apple launched iTunes Music Store in Japan, consolidating its leadership on the digital music market. But a new competitor seems to be ready to challenge the almighty iTunes.
After Yahoo, another Internet key player, Amazon, the leading online retailer of physical CDs, may be about to become the latest entrant into the fierce battle for digital music supremacy.
WallStreet Journal reports that the company has initiated talks with record labels, analyzing the possibility to license music for a store. Amazon.com also had discussions with MusicNet, a company which is providing infrastructures for music stores. Amazon.com also has posted a job listing on its web site seeking a music content acquisition manager.
Amazon.com is experiencing a decline in CD sales because of increasing popularity of the digital music downloads services.
Amazon declined to comment, but WallStreet Journal belives that the launch of an Amazon music store will occur before the end of the year.
The store would include options such as song-by-song downloads and a monthly subscription service. The main competitors on the market, beside Apple, are Yahoo Music Service, Napster, and RealNetworks Rhapsody. Still, Amazon.com has an impressive consumer base and a music store under Amazon brand may be a long term success.