M ichael Robertson, the man behind the original MP3.com Web site, launched MP3tunes.com Wednesday, offering over 300,00 songs for 88¢ without any digital rights management.
The DRM-free music is encoded in MP3 format at 192kbps, making it compatible with any portable digital music player, including Appleis iPod. MP3tunes.com also offers sample clips and features a "digital storage locker," where customers can re-download any of the music they have already purchased. So whatis the catch? None of the major record labels have signed off on MP3tunes.com, meaning you may have only heard of a handful--if any--of the siteis 22,000-plus artists.
Robertson isnit fazed by the lack of big-name bands, however, believing instead that if MP3tunes.com proves itself to be a popular destination for music fans, that "forward-thinking labels will ultimately [follow as well]," he said in a statement.
While the press release boasts that "the design of MP3tunes.com makes finding new music simple," users of Appleis iTunes will immediately find the siteis overall presentation eerily similar to the iTunes Music Store.