In an effort to side-step Apple’s native iOS app restrictions and its 30 percent fee structure for in-app purchases, Amazon has come up with a new strategy to better sell MP3s to customers with iPhones.
The workaround is quite simple: it uses the open web.
On Thursday, Amazon announced that the Amazon MP3 Store has been optimized for Safari on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Amazon customers with these Apple mobiles can now easily browse and purchase any of the 22 million-plus songs in the company’s online web store. After purchase, the MP3s can be listened to and downloaded via the Amazon Cloud Player iOS app.
Apple still doesn’t allow third-party access to the iOS Music app, so you won’t be able to throw these songs directly into your iPhone’s main music library, but you can always sync the songs that way using iTunes on the desktop.
By using a mobile site instead of a native app for the Amazon MP3 Store, the online retailer has circumvented paying Apple a 30-percent cut of in-app music sales. It also gives Amazon complete control over updates to the Amazon MP3 Store experience on iOS. Previous to Thursday’s update, iPhone customers could browse the store and buy MP3s, but only through the full website, and the experience was clunky. Amazon’s new MP3 site is fully optimized for Apple’s smallest mobile screens.
Apple’s vice-like grip on music sales for the iPhone and iPod touch continues to loosen, as this is yet another way to experience music on iOS without going through Apple’s iTunes store — first, with on-demand streaming subscription services like Rhapsody, Spotify and Rdio, and now with Amazon selling MP3s directly to iPhone owners without Apple getting a cut of the proceeds.
According to Steve Boom, vice president of Amazon Music, customers have been keen on for this feature to arrive.
“Since the launch of the Amazon Cloud Player app for iPhone and iPod Touch, a top request from customers has been the ability to buy music from Amazon right from their devices,” Boom said in a statement about Thursday’s launch.
The Amazon’s new MP3 Store for iOS is available now.
Amazon MP3 Store Comes to iOS — Without the In-App Purchase Tax
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Amazon MP3 Store Comes to iOS — Without the In-App Purchase Tax
