iTunes download formats?

Here is what I do know:

Amazon also offers 256K downloads. They are in MP3 format which is supposed to be a little lower quality than Apple's codec but they sound decent to me. They also will play on any machine whereas iTune's won't. Apple has by far the larger catalog but Amazon's prices tend to be a little better, at least on albums.

The Apple+ tunes at 256k are now $.99 each and are DRM free.

DG (Deutche Grammophone?) now has a big catalog of their classical material in 320k MP3 format online.

Walmart has some at 192k (others at 128k) for 89c but their catalog is weak and much of it is wma which does not play on Ipods. Besides, Walmart sucks.

A news item from yesterday's WSJ:

Amazon has signed with Warner Records and now offers their music online - DRM free and at 256k. This includes the Asylum, Atlantic, Elektra, Lava, Reprise, Rhino and other labels. It raises their catalog to 2.9MM songs, and now includes Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin, Sean Paul. It's good news to see another major label go DRM-free.

This announcement came out as Warner released its latest quarterly earnings which showed a 58% drop in net income.