Artist stores launch celebrates Amazon Music's 10th anniversary and allows customers to easily browse and shop for music in all formats -- CD, DRM-free MP3 and vinyl -- by artist; Special Amazon 10th anniversary compilation CD commemorates a decade of music with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the GRAMMY Foundation(R)

SEATTLE, Nov 17, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- To help customers more easily discover music in any format, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today launched over 100,000 new artist stores (www.amazon.com/artiststores). The stores feature comprehensive artist content, including full album discographies, CDs, DRM-free MP3s and vinyl catalog selection along with community features like artist images, artist biographies and related products -- all in one place. To celebrate the launch of the artist stores and Amazon Music's 10th anniversary, Amazon is releasing a limited-edition "Amazon.com 10 Years of Music" (www.amazon.com/10yearsofmusic) CD compilation featuring:

• Jewel's "Hands"
• Backstreet Boys' "I Want it That Way"
• 'N Sync's "This I Promise You"
• Dave Matthew Band's "The Space Between"
• Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why"
• Sarah McLachlan's "Fallen"
• Maroon 5's "This Love"
• Coldplay's "Speed of Sound"
• Dixie Chicks' "Not Ready to Make Nice"
• Bruce Springsteen's "Radio Nowhere"

A portion of the proceeds for each CD sold(1) will benefit the GRAMMY Foundation(R), a nonprofit organization established in 1989 by The Recording Academy(R) that provides opportunities for young people to explore careers in the music industry, and leads efforts to safeguard contributions made by musical icons to our cultural heritage.

"We've always understood that our customers want to listen to their music when they want it, where they want it and in whichever format they want it," said Peter Faricy, vice president of music and movies at Amazon.com. "We're music lovers here at Amazon, and we created the Amazon Artist Stores for everyone from the casual enthusiast and occasional gift-giver to the seasoned music junkie. These stores allow our customers to easily find and discover the music they love in any format along with a variety of artist content, like exclusive music videos and behind-the-scenes footage, all in a single place."

The new artist stores serve as one-stop destinations for all things related to musicians and their music. Customers can learn about their favorite performers through images and biographies, easily discover music in any format, listen to song previews and even contribute to artist profiles. Additionally, Amazon Artist Stores have more than just music, featuring related merchandise such as concert shirts, rare posters, books, concert DVDs and more so fans can easily get their fill of memorabilia. As part of the launch customers can also check out exclusive music video debuts from Robin Thicke, "Dream World"; Il Divo, "The Promise"; Copeland, "You Are My Sunshine"; and Alison Krauss, "Shadows."

Among the over 70,000 newly launched artist-dedicated stores are fan favorites, including the:

• Coldplay Store (www.amazon.com/coldplay) featuring:
• A pre-order for the band's new EP, "Prospekt's March"
• "The Coldplay Story" - a timeline of this influential band's rise in the music world
• A photo gallery of the band
• A variety of books and DVDs
• Bob Dylan Store (www.amazon.com/dylan) featuring:
• His recent exclusive music video debut on Amazon.com of "Dreamin' of You"
• A photo gallery of the artist throughout different time periods in his life and career
• Career biography and timeline of the legendary singer, songwriter
• A variety of books and DVDs
• Andrea Bocelli Store (www.amazon.com/bocelli) featuring:
• A new Amazon Exclusive video from his latest release, "Incanto," along with a collection of other videos
• Career biography and timeline on the Italian opera singer
• A special note from the artist remembering his friend, Luciano Pavarotti
• Il Divo Store (www.amazon.com/divo) featuring:
• A sweepstakes for customers to win tickets to an Il Divo concert in London
• A new Amazon Exclusive video from their latest release, "The Promise"
• Career biography and photo gallery of the quartet

To browse the full selection of Amazon Artist Stores, visit www.amazon.com/artiststores. To order a copy of "Amazon.com 10 Years of Music" and help celebrate Amazon Music's 10th anniversary, visit www.amazon.com/10yearsofmusic.

(1) Amazon.com will donate $1 for each CD sold less credits, returns and refunds.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as books, movies, music & games, digital downloads, electronics & computers, home & garden, toys, kids & baby, grocery, apparel, shoes & jewelry, health & beauty, sports & outdoors, and tools, auto & industrial.

Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, whichdevelopers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Examples of the services offered by Amazon Web Services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS), and Amazon Mechanical Turk.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, and the Joyo Amazon websites at www.joyo.cn and www.amazon.cn.

As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, significant amount of indebtedness, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, and subsequent filings.

About the GRAMMY Foundation

The GRAMMY Foundation was established in 1989 to cultivate the understanding, appreciation and advancement of the contribution of recorded music to American culture -- from the artistic and technical legends of the past to the still unimagined musical breakthroughs of future generations of music professionals. The Foundation accomplishes this mission through programs and activities that engage the music industry and cultural community as well as the general public. The Foundation works in partnership year-round with its founder, The Recording Academy, to bring national attention to important issues such as the value and impact of music and arts education and the urgency of preserving our rich cultural heritage. For more information, please visit www.grammyfoundation.com.

SOURCE: Amazon.com, Inc.

Media Contacts:
Amazon Media Hotline
206-266-7180
or
The GRAMMY Foundation
Christina Cassidy, 310-392-3777
christina.cassidy@grammy.com