Amazon offers 29p downloads to challenge Apple

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,Amazon has made over 100 tracks available for 29p include Lady Gaga's Poker Face and Lily Allen's The Fear.

The company has also added rock, classical and jazz tracks to the promotion to celebrate five million tracks offered since its launch in December 2008

The downloads will be playable on iPods and iPhones.

Experts said the move could spark an online war.

Apple is believed to control more than 70 per cent of the download market, and has sold more than six billion songs around the world, in its six-year existence.

In the UK, individual tracks on iTunes are sold for 59p, 79p or 99p with the majority costing 79p.

Tom Dunmore of gadget magazine Stuff said: "This is really the first serious competitor to Apple's dominance we've seen.

"I think this could see the start of a price war, and Apple maybe forced to counter with its own promotions. Overall, this is great news, as consumers are only going to see prices dro."

,Amazon, which launched its rival service last year, now has over five million tracks in its catalogue.

Julian Monaghan, head of music buying at ,Amazon.co.uk said: "Our aim is to always offer the lowest prices and the most comprehensive choice.

"Since our launch four months ago, we have been presenting our customers with some great deals on MP3s whilst rapidly expanding our catalogue and we will continue to do so going forward."

,Amazon.co.uk has also been offering albums for just £3.

Both Apple and ,Amazon face competition from websites which allow users to stream music to their computers without having to buy tracks.

Sites such as London based last.fm and Spotify – which allows users to legally create a free "personalised" radio station – have proved extremely popular.

However, Spotify announced last week that it will start selling music downloads, after it struck a deal with online music store 7digital.

Source:telegraph