Pepsi and Amazon give away DRM-free MP3s

$1bn worth of tunes up for grabs.

Pepsi and Amazon have teamed up to give away $1bn worth of DRM-free MP3s under the Pepsi Stuff collect-and-get programme.

Four billion specially marked Pepsi packages will offer points which can be redeemed for music from the Amazon store.

The MP3s can be played on virtually any digital portable device, including Apple's iPod, organised in any music management application or burned to CD.

Amazon MP3 is one of the biggest supporters of DRM-free MP3 downloads, offering 3.25 million songs from more than 270,000 artists.

Five points earn consumers one MP3 from the libraries of EMI Music, Sony BMG or Warner Music Group.

"MP3 music is the future of the industry and Pepsi Stuff is an accelerator," said Danny Socolof, president of Las Vegas firm Mega, which forged the Pepsi/Amazon alliance.

"This deal will help more people discover legal DRM-free music downloading, and is likely to draw in music fans who are not as familiar with downloading which can help build a healthy future for the music business."

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