Seattle - Amazon.com on Wednesday announced plans to launch a digital music store later this year that will sell millions of songs from more than 12,000 record labels in the unprotected MP3 format.

The format choice will allow songs purchased from Amazon to play on any portable player, including the iPod and competing devices.

The company said major label EMI Music is the latest addition to the store; the label recently began offering its artists' music for sale at other sites without digital rights management (DRM) restrictions.

"We think having a trusted destination like Amazon.com offer a high-quality digital music product that will play across a number of devices gives consumers more options and will be a significant boost for the overall digital music market," said EMI CEO Eric Nicoli.

Amazon did not provide pricing, bitrate or launch date details for the service.

Apple, which also plans to sell DRM-free EMI tracks, will charge a premium of $1.29 per song, or 30 cents more than the current industry pricing standard.

Related Links:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070516/20070516005337.html?.v=1

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070516/amazon_com_music_store.html (AP)