Amazon going international with MP3 store

Amazon.com is ratcheting up pressure on Apple withthe announcement it will compete with the iPod maker's online iTunes music store internationally this year.

The online retailersaid Sunday it willbegin the international rollout ofits MP3 store, which sells musicwithout copy-restricting digital rights management (DRM) software from all four major music labels, later this year. The company did not provide a specific timeline launching sales on sites it operates in Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and China.

Amazon first said it would open a music download store in May, then launched the service which sells songs that work on every type of music player including iPods in the United States inSeptember. Songs sell for 89 to 99 cents U.S., while albums range from $5.99 to $9.99 U.S. The company says it has a catalog of 3.3 million songs from more than 270,000 artists.

Analysts expect digital music sales to take off now that the major music labels have seemingly dropped DRM. Sales have already been rising, with digital tracks accounting for about 15 per cent of all music sold in 2007, up from one per cent in 2003, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. In Canada, sales of digital tracks rose 73 per cent to 25.8 million in 2007, according to Nielsen Soundscan, outpacing the 45 per cent growth in the United States.

Apple, which has more than 80 per cent of the global digital music market, operates in 22 countries. The company began selling DRM-free songs in May.

Qtrax deal held up

Separately, music website Qtrax on Monday backtracked on claims it made last week that it had signed deals with the labels to offer free songs for downloading through an ad-supported service. Universal Music Group, EMI and Warner Music Group have since said they do not yet have deals in place with Qtrax, though theyare in negotiations with the site. Sony BMG has not yet commented.

The site was supposed to have launched its service on Monday after announcing details at the Midem music conference in Cannes, France,this weekend. Qtrax said its service had been "fully embraced by the music industry" in a press release.

"We are in discussion with Warner Music Group to ensure that the service is licensed and we hope to reach an agreement shortly," Qtrax said in a release late on Sunday.