Last January, Amazon announced AutoRip, a program which allows you to get free MP3s for any CDs you’ve purchased since the mid-90s. Now, they’re extending that offer with AutoRip for vinyl record purchases, according to reports. As of last week, you can now get free MP3 versions of music purchased on vinyl, which is a great deal for music lovers who want the sound of vinyl, but still like the convenience of having a digital copy of their music.
Right now, AutoRip isn’t available for all vinyl (or CD) music purchase. While the retailer does have a deal with several major record labels to make this possible, only music that is available in the Amazon MP3 store will be uploaded to your Cloud Player library when you make a purchase.
Check out this video from Amazon explaining exactly what AutoRip is:
This offering could also help introduce a love of vinyl to an entirely new generation. After all, you won’t just find Dark Side of the Moon and other classics on vinyl. Right now, Amazon is promoting Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience, Mumford & Sons’ Babel, and more through their AutoRip service. Music fans who may have previously only considered purchasing digital copies of the music they enjoy now have the option to check out what vinyl has to offer.
Vinyl is a niche market to be sure, no matter what freebies you get, but this kind of offering might be just the revival the music industry needs for the CD market. According rumors reported by Mashable, CD sales are already increasing on Amazon. You can find everything from Blake Shelton to Iron Maiden to Josh Groban on AutoRip CD, so there’s certainly a wide variety of music for every taste.
And the best part is that this is retroactive! Any CD or vinyl record you’ve purchased on Amazon since 1998 that’s now part of AutoRip will be available for you in your Cloud Play library. If you haven’t logged into Amazon recently, but you’ve purchased music in the past, you might want to check out the MP3s that are now available to you.
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Allison Boyer is the Online Education Coordinator for NMX University, where you can learn more about blogging, podcasting, web TV, and social business. She also runs the food blog The PinterTest Kitchen with her mom and sister.
