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A cloud-based version of iTunes is said to be in the works. Google Music was first touted almost a year ago. So which company is first to offer streaming over the cloud of your music files? Amazon? Huh? That’s right, Amazon is on a roll these days, launching their Cloud Player service a week after introducing their Appstore for Android.
The music streaming service allows you to upload your audio tracks to a 5GB online locker at no charge to be streamed on any web-connected computer or Android phone. Purchase a music album through Amazon and get a free upgrade to 20GB of storage space. Other plans are available starting at $20/year. And no, this isn’t just music you purchased via Amazon. You can upload your entire library (assuming you acquire enough cloud storage), including tracks purchased from iTunes.
We know Google usually applauds open innovation and all, but with two shots fired directly over their bow in the past week the company that made Android may want to step up their game. Amazon already launched an arguably improved market experience for Android, we’d hate for Google to miss the boat on cloud-streaming music as well.
Introducing Amazon Cloud Drive, Amazon Cloud Player for Web, and Amazon Cloud Player for Android
Buy anywhere, play anywhere and keep all your music in one place
Start with 5 GB of free Cloud Drive storage – upgrade to 20 GB free with purchase of any MP3 albumSEATTLE, Mar 29, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) —
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced the launch of Amazon Cloud Drive (www.amazon.com/clouddrive), Amazon Cloud Player for Web (www.amazon.com/cloudplayer) and Amazon Cloud Player for Android (www.amazon.com/cloudplayerandroid). Together, these services enable customers to securely store music in the cloudand play it on any Android phone, Android tablet, Mac or PC, wherever they are. Customers can easily upload their music library to Amazon Cloud Drive and can save any new Amazon MP3 purchases directly to their Amazon Cloud Drive for free.
“We’re excited to take this leap forward in the digital experience,” said Bill Carr, vice president of Movies and Music at Amazon. “The launch of Cloud Drive, Cloud Player for Web and Cloud Player for Android eliminates the need for constant software updates as well as the use of thumb drives and cables to move and manage music.”
“Our customers have told us they don’t want to download music to their work computers or phones because they find it hard to move music around to different devices,” Carr said. “Now, whether at work, home, or on the go, customers can buy music from Amazon MP3, store it in the cloud and play it anywhere.”
Store Music for Free
Customers automatically start with 5 GB of Cloud Drive storage to upload their digital music library, and those who purchase an Amazon MP3 album will be upgraded to 20 GB of Cloud Drive space. New Amazon MP3 purchases saved directly to Cloud Drive are stored for free and do not count against a customer’s storage quota.
Adding Music to Cloud Drive
Amazon’s easy uploading process makes it simple for customers to save their music library to their Cloud Drive. Files can be stored in AAC or MP3 formats and will be uploaded to Cloud Drive in the original bit rate. Customers can hand-pick particular songs, artists, albums or playlists to upload or simply upload their entire music library.
Cloud Player for Web
Customers who have a computer with a Web browser can listen to their music. Cloud Player for Web currently supports Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari for Mac, and Chrome. Cloud Player for Web lets customers easily manage their music with download and streaming options. Customers don’t need to worry about regularly updating software on their computer to enjoy music, and Amazon MP3 customers can continue to use iTunes and Windows Media Player to add their music to their iPods and MP3 players.
Cloud Player for Android
Cloud Player for Android is now bundled into the new version of the Amazon MP3 App; it includes the full Amazon MP3 Store and the mobile version of Cloud Player. Customers can use the app to play music stored on their Cloud Drive and music stored locally on their device. Features include the ability to search and browse by artist, album or song, create playlists and download music from Cloud Drive.
Secure Storage
Customers never need to worry about losing their music collection to a hard drive crash again. Files are securely stored on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and each file is uploaded to Cloud Drive in its original bit rate. Customers can buy music anywhere and know that their MP3s are safely stored in Cloud Drive and accessible from any device.
Store More than Music
Cloud Drive allows customers to upload and store all kinds of digital files; music, photos, videos and documents can be stored securely and are available via web browser on any computer. In addition to the 5 GB of free storage, customers can purchase storage plans starting at $20 a year for 20 GB.
Sweet I love free shi….oh, I forgot this place is policed now:-(
mp3…ugh – get me a cloud service with FLAC and I am in
Glad some major players are taking Android seriously.
They are developing and running ahead with the great open features of Android. I doubt Apple will allow this in their app store. LOL
US only, lame.
Mecanto.com has been streaming cloud hosted music for well over a year now. They have a web browser client along with native Android, iphone applications. They use to be free but now it’s $1.99 a month for unlimited mp3 / FLAC storage. Amazon wasn’t first, they just have a larger microphone.
Windows only make mecanto unusable for me (I use linux).
Same here
I have been waiting for a good competitor to iTunes. As much as I hate apple they really have been instrumental in they realm of digital music. I am still holding out to see what Google is doing first. With 80 gigs of music, I want to only move these files once.
The 20GB upgrade is only for a year. Then you have to start paying $20 again. The new app is quite good though, although I wish it combined both cloud and local music seamlessly. They are two separate sections of the player.
I’ll wait until I see what Google has up their sleeves before I make a commitment. I am not going to spend money on Amazon now just to find out that Google offers it for free next week.
Yea i’m going to wait and see what google pulls out, hopefully you can load your video files as well as mp3 mp4
Cheking it out. its ok. What really stinks is they are not making already purchased MP3s retroactive to the cloud. I have purchased quite a few things from amazon already. but its also kinda nice to have a 5GB bucket. you can put videos and flat files up also.
Exactly. I was hoping I already qualified for the 20 gig service with previous album purchases. NOPE :(
As an owner of both Google and Amazon stock, I like to see the two companies feed off each other’s constant push to be ahead, consumers win in situations like this.
Nice if you’re buying from Amazon, but uploading existing music… depending on how fast of an uplink you have it could take a while.
took me 30 minutes for 56 songs, not too bad.
One important thing that I did not see mentioned in this article, is that from now on, any digital music you buy from Amazon can be added to your cloud storage for free, and it does not contribute to your limit. So, even if you only have the free 5GBs, and that’s full, as long as you buy all your music through Amazon, it will all be available to you. That’s a pretty good way of encouraging people to buy all their music though Amazon.
I must say, I’m happy with it. I made a purchase to get the 20gigs. 20 dollars per year isn’t gonna kill me, especially that the first year you pretty much get 50% off.
Anyway, I’ve been playing with it around Boston today. Check it through my WiFi and 4G, both worked seamlessly. I’ve used it while driving and while stationed for about two hours. Can’t complain (nor wait to see what Google has up its sleeve!)
Is this on the Market or just the Amazon App store