Amazon Launches 'AutoRip', Offering Free Digital Versions of Purchased CDs

Seeking to enhance its profile among music buyers, Amazon today announced the launch of AutoRip, a new service that offers customers who purchase physical CDs through Amazon free digital copies of their purchases through Amazon Cloud Player. The service is also retroactive, meaning that customers who bought any of the thousands of eligible CDs through Amazon since 1998 will automatically find digital versions of their past purchases in Cloud Player.

When customers purchase AutoRip CDs, the MP3 versions are automatically added to their Cloud Player libraries, where they are available, free of charge, for immediate playback or download – no more waiting for the CD to arrive. Additionally, customers who have purchased AutoRip CDs at any time since Amazon first opened its Music Store in 1998 will find MP3 versions of those albums in their Cloud Player libraries – also automatically and for free. More than 50,000 albums, including titles from every major record label, are available for AutoRip, and more titles are added all the time – customers can just look for the AutoRip logo.

AutoRip tracks are encoded as 256 Kbps MP3 files and are playable on a wide variety of devices including the iPhone and iPod touch, and can also be accessed through any web browser. AutoRip tracks do not count toward users' storage limits for the Cloud Player service.

amazon autorip
Amazon has been working for years to eat into Apple's dominant share of the digital music market, offering discounted prices and matching or exceeding Apple's features such as iTunes Match with its own offerings. With the new AutoRip service, Amazon clearly hopes to attract many longtime customers who have purchased physical CDs from the company by offering free digital versions to introduce them to Cloud Player.

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Top Rated Comments

paulskinner Avatar
162 months ago
People still by CDs?

People still post this comment at every available opportunity?
Score: 67 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe-Diver Avatar
162 months ago
Free digital copies should be included with every type of media purchase. It's not hard at all to rip a CD to your iTunes library, cloud or whatever...but inclusion of the digital copy is a nice touch. Like buying a DVD of your favorite movie that includes a digital copy. It's usually better done than something you may do yourself, such as a backup archival via Handbrake or something.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
paulskinner Avatar
162 months ago
Can't argue with free stuff years after you've paid for something...
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
balamw Avatar
162 months ago
Their player/DRM thing (and I never complain) is SO FREAKING AWFUL.

? DRM? There's no DRM in the Amazon MP3 store.

B
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DaveN Avatar
162 months ago
People still by CDs?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iMacFarlane Avatar
162 months ago
how is it hard to put in a CD and just rip it manually? lol.

For those people with rMBPs or new iMacs, pretty hard.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)