Call him old-fashioned, but my 21-year-old brother has a record player and genuinely loves his vinyl record collection. For Christmas, my sister and I got him two new additions we found at Urban Outfitters. He was really excited to find out it also came with a download code, so he now has the albums in physical and digital form – simultaneously living in the past and the present music-wise. Although the vinyl record and compact disc are definitely past their prime, companies such as Urban Outfitters and Amazon think the two music forms still have some life left in them.
Amazon has introduced AutoRip, a service that gives users a free MP3 version stored in their Amazon Cloud Player library when they purchase a CD. After you complete a purchase of an AutoRip CD, the free MP3 version will be available in your cloud library and accessible on Web-enabled devices, including PCs, Macs, Kindle Fires, Android (News - Alert) phones, iPhones, iPod touches and iPads.
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If you don’t have a Cloud Player account yet, it’s free and easy to sign up. (The first 250 songs are free and then the plan changes to $24.99/per year for up to 250,000 songs.) CDs eligible for AutoRip will be marked with the AutoRip logo on the CD product page. There are thousands of CDs already available to choose from. Good news for users who have already purchased CDs through Amazono – if you have purchased CDs since 1998 and they are eligible for AutoRip now, the MP3 version will be delivered to your Cloud Player library.
To get access to the Cloud Player on iOS, there is an app available for free in the App Store. For many mobile users, the Cloud Player is just another addition to the many options out there to listen to music. From iTunes and Google Music to Internet music services such as Pandora (News - Alert), Spotify, Songza, Rdio and iHeartRadio, the Cloud Player is trying to add a differentiating factor into its service, as well as encourage people to extend the life of CDs.