The world of DRM-free online music sales has been heating up lately. AmazonMP3 was the first DRM-free store with music from the “big four” labels, and is my personal favorite (it is the only store I have made repeat purchases at actually), but if they really want to make a significant dent in iTunes’ market share they are going to need to do more. Here’s my $.02 on the matter.

Increase Visibility

One of the biggest problems I believe AmazonMP3 is facing is that even amongst people who buy music online (mostly iTunes users) most haven’t ever heard of it. Anytime I mention AmazonMP3 to a friend of mine they are surprised that such a service even exists; they thought iTunes was the only option.

The value proposition is really strong for Amazon MP3: no DRM, files are compatible with all MP3 players, a large selection of music, a familiar company that most people already do business with, and prices that are generally lower than the competition. All of that doesn’t matter if you don’t know about it though.

Bundle With Other Amazon Products

Amazon should bundle MP3 downloads with every iPod or MP3 player. Three of the top six selling MP3 players aren’t iPods so they don’t have any default store, and seventeen of the top one-hundred selling electronics are MP3 players; it is a great opportunity to cross-sell.

They could vary the number of included tracks based of the price of the product. So the bargain $35 MP3 player might only come with two or three songs while a high end $500 MP3 player could come with an album or two; depending on the margins of course. This would be a differentiating factor versus other online stores for MP3 players, and would introduce most of these users to AmazonMP3 right off the bat. Amazon could even include free songs with other devices that play MP3s but aren’t “MP3 Players” such as cell phones, portable GPS units, game consoles, or even computers.

They should make MP3 purchases count toward free “Super Saver Shipping” and highlight it to certain users too. I know I would buy a few tracks to push my order over $25 instead of hunting down some cheap book or a 24-pack of pens.

Brick And Mortar

I think they need to go after the brick and mortar establishments as well. They could be selling AmazonMP3 gift cards at electronics stores, big box retailers, and supermarkets just like iTunes does. Although the cards would say AmazonMP3 they really should be redeemable for any purchase at Amazon.com. They could also extend the bundling concept to select retailers to include AmazonMP3 tracks with MP3 players. Amazon already has a commercial partnership with Target so why not start there?

What do you think? Would some legal free tunes entice you to buy an MP3 player at a certain store? Do you think you’d actually redeem the free MP3 tracks, and even make a future purchase?