AP image: The magic of Amazon

AmazonMP3, the best way to get DRM-free MP3s onto your iPod—iTunes sells AACs, some with DRM—,will be available in other, non-U.S. countries beginning this year… and that’s all the info we have. No specific dates, no pricing information, no region-specific peculiarities. Just the warm feeling that sometime this year, people from all over the world, maybe in your country, maybe not, will be able to download Amazon’s MP3s.

I know the record labels want AmazonMP3 to succeed so they’re not entirely dependent upon iTunes for their download revenue. That’s too much control for one company (that’s not one of them) to have. Apple, for its part, probably isn’t too concerned about this digital music competition seeing as though it’s rapidly diversifying its iTunes Store , what with rentable movies, high-def content, etc. Go ahead, Amazon, Apple thinks, sell all the MP3s in the world; people are playing them on our hardware anyway.

Then there’s that whole piracy thing. Must be fun being a music industry executive nowadays.

Amazon to Begin International Rollout of Amazon MP3 in 2008 [Amazon]