Amazon.com To Launch Digital Music Store

Online retailer Amazon.com said Wednesday it plans to launch a digital music store later this year featuring songs without copy protection restrictions.

The store will feature millions of songs from 12,000 labels able to be played on a range of devices including iPods, Microsoft's Zune players and personal computers. Files will be offered in the standard MP3 format.

EMI Music is the latest to license its music catalog to the store.

Amazon did not say how much songs would cost or the terms on which it would offer music -- per song, per album, by subscription or some combination of those plans. It also did not specify a date for the launch of the store.

Amazon.com shares rose 40 cents to $60.98 in morning trading.