First MP3 File From Amazon

I just bought my first MP3 from Amazon... since I got a new iPod nano from Apple, plus Marketplace.org has been raving on the website several times (subtle marketing - package a news with along with commercial interest).

The front page of the amazonmp3 was pretty amazing, it began with a proclamation of "MP3 Music Downloads for Any Media Player!". Yes, I was sold on that very idea, no DRM that's lurking in the darkness and pounces you whenever it wants to.

Going down the page: I saw lots of shiny albums, skipped, not interested. New songs: 1 2 3 4 was on #4 of Today's Top MP3 songs list, some old ones from Pavarotti on the right, and bla3. I wasn't interested, it felt pre-packaged and I don't like packaged stuff unless it is cubical.

Instead, I fired up Google and looked for theme songs from House, yes, I am a big fan of the series and the theme music/songs. Hmmm, found: "Are you alright?" by Lucinda Williams. Copy the whole thing and paste it into the search text box and quickly hit the Go button.

Your search ""Are you alright?" by Lucinda Williams" did not match any products.

What? Apparently someone need to fix the search engine.

Trimming the search to "Lucinda Williams" returned list of songs and I did text search of "Are you ..." and FireFox highlighted the title, ... bingo ...

Previewing the song was a nice experience (it played instantly without asking me which player to use), but it is a hit and miss experience since I had to select Real on several instances afterwards.

Checking out the file was a painless process, click Buy MP3 button, put in my CC# and info then I downloaded the file. Did I mention that the MP3 bit rate was 256kbps? Nice. Although I would bow down if it was asking me which format I wanted it to be.

After enjoying the song, I was happy that the store sent me the purchase statement. Double nice.

Now, let's browse for more songs! Maybe I could add a wish list, buy an album and ... everything just went downhill afterwards.

First of all. Stop pushing the tiny app called Amazon MP3 Downloader. Yes, I heard it gives you a free song, but it is a stinky one: I would prefer a song from The Eagle instead. Flickr could upload multiple files automatically, so why couldn't amazonmp3 do that in-reverse?

Second, not all songs are available, I am fine since the sharks need to iron out the details, but guys: at least jot down our wish list and notify us when paper battles are done.

Third, please add a shopping cart for MP3 files. It was a shocking experience when I realized that I could quickly buy 1234 in one click.

In the end I couldn't decide if I like the store. Yeah, it was stocked pretty well, but I guess it is alright. It is still in beta shape and I hope it gets better from here.