Amazon Launches 'AutoRip', Offering Free Digital Versions of Purchased CDs

Seeking to enhance its profile among music buyers, Amazon today announced the launch of AutoRip, a new service that offers customers who purchase physical CDs through Amazon free digital copies of their purchases through Amazon Cloud Player. The service is also retroactive, meaning that customers who bought any of the thousands of eligible CDs through Amazon since 1998 will automatically find digital versions of their past purchases in Cloud Player.

When customers purchase AutoRip CDs, the MP3 versions are automatically added to their Cloud Player libraries, where they are available, free of charge, for immediate playback or download – no more waiting for the CD to arrive. Additionally, customers who have purchased AutoRip CDs at any time since Amazon first opened its Music Store in 1998 will find MP3 versions of those albums in their Cloud Player libraries – also automatically and for free. More than 50,000 albums, including titles from every major record label, are available for AutoRip, and more titles are added all the time – customers can just look for the AutoRip logo.

AutoRip tracks are encoded as 256 Kbps MP3 files and are playable on a wide variety of devices including the iPhone and iPod touch, and can also be accessed through any web browser. AutoRip tracks do not count toward users' storage limits for the Cloud Player service.

amazon autorip
Amazon has been working for years to eat into Apple's dominant share of the digital music market, offering discounted prices and matching or exceeding Apple's features such as iTunes Match with its own offerings. With the new AutoRip service, Amazon clearly hopes to attract many longtime customers who have purchased physical CDs from the company by offering free digital versions to introduce them to Cloud Player.

Popular Stories

Alleged iOS 19 Icons Front Page Tech

iOS 19 Leak Reveals Alleged New Design With Rounder App Icons, Floating Tab Bar, and More

Monday April 7, 2025 3:13 pm PDT by
YouTube channel Front Page Tech is back today with another video that provides a closer look at iOS 19's alleged design changes. The video contains re-created renders of iOS 19, which are allegedly based on real footage of the software update, provided by sources within Apple. Overall, iOS 19 is expected to have a more glass-like, visionOS-inspired design, with added translucency for user...
iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

iPhone 17 Pro's New Rear Camera Bar 'Same Color As Rest of Device'

Monday April 7, 2025 2:09 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models will feature a redesigned rear camera panel that spans the width of the device, but it will be the same color as the iPhone itself, rather than being part of a two-tone design. That's according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, the reporter says the iPhone 17 Pro won't have a two-toned back, as some renders have...
iphone 16 pro colors 1

Is Now the Time to Upgrade Apple Devices Before Tariffs Lead to Price Increases?

Friday April 4, 2025 3:41 pm PDT by
If you have an older Apple device that you've been considering upgrading, you're probably wondering how the newly announced tariffs might impact prices going forward, and whether it's worth buying now before there's a price hike. Given analyst and economist responses to the tariffs, market panic, and Trump's stance on the current financial chaos, the answer is that making a purchase...
iphone x front back

Apple Planning 'Bold' New 20th Anniversary Design for 2027 iPhone Pro

Monday April 7, 2025 2:46 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "major shake-up" for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. iPhone X released in 2017 for 10th anniversary Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says that Apple plans to launch a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold" new iPhone Pro model that makes more extensive use of glass. Could this mean Apple plans to realize former...
iPhone Assembly

Trump Believes Apple Could Manufacture iPhones in the U.S.

Tuesday April 8, 2025 12:08 pm PDT by
U.S. President Donald Trump "absolutely" believes that Apple could manufacture its iPhones and other devices in the United States, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today during a media briefing. Leavitt was asked whether Trump thought that iPhone manufacturing is the kind of technology that could move to the U.S. "Absolutely, he believes we have the labor, we have the workforce, we have ...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

5 Biggest Changes Rumored for iPhone 17 Pro

Tuesday April 8, 2025 2:38 am PDT by
Later this year, Apple will introduce the iPhone 17 series, which includes the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max, two new high-end flagship devices that will be sold alongside the regular iPhone 17 and an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air. If you have been holding out for the iPhone 17 Pro or its bigger sibling, here are five of the biggest changes, informed by the latest reports and...

Top Rated Comments

paulskinner Avatar
160 months ago
People still by CDs?

People still post this comment at every available opportunity?
Score: 67 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe-Diver Avatar
160 months ago
Free digital copies should be included with every type of media purchase. It's not hard at all to rip a CD to your iTunes library, cloud or whatever...but inclusion of the digital copy is a nice touch. Like buying a DVD of your favorite movie that includes a digital copy. It's usually better done than something you may do yourself, such as a backup archival via Handbrake or something.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
paulskinner Avatar
160 months ago
Can't argue with free stuff years after you've paid for something...
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
balamw Avatar
160 months ago
Their player/DRM thing (and I never complain) is SO FREAKING AWFUL.

? DRM? There's no DRM in the Amazon MP3 store.

B
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DaveN Avatar
160 months ago
People still by CDs?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iMacFarlane Avatar
160 months ago
how is it hard to put in a CD and just rip it manually? lol.

For those people with rMBPs or new iMacs, pretty hard.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)