Amazon MP3 will sell tracks from 59p and albums from £3.

The new music store will offer more than 3 million songs that will work on any digital music player, including Apple's iPod.

The move puts Amazon in direct competition with Apple for a stake in the growing market of online music sales, which in Britain alone was worth an estimated £163m in 2007.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment's UK chairman, Ged Doherty, said the launch could only be good news for the music industry.
"Amazon's music services in the US have attracted new digital music consumers and helped grow the digital market. We have high hopes that it will have the same impact in the UK."

Unlike many files from Apple's iTunes store, which can only be played through its iTunes interface or on an iPod, the music available from Amazon will be free from the constraints of digital rights management (DRM).

BBCNews