Amazon’s new AutoRip service will mine your CD purchase history to give you free MP3s

Amazon has just announced a new service called Amazon AutoRip, which gives customers free digital copies of any CD they purchase directly from the company. However, the new feature doesn’t just apply to CDs you buy from now on — Amazon is retroactively giving free MP3s to any customer who has purchased an AutoRip compatible CD since its Music Store first opened in 1998. The digital copies will be automatically added to a user’s Cloud Player library — without counting against Cloud Player storage limits — completely free of charge. Last year, Amazon pushed its Cloud Player with the addition of Scan and Match, allowing users to to add 256kbps versions of songs from iTunes and Windows Media libraries. This creative use of Amazon’s rather extensive knowledge of customer purchase history serves the dual purpose of promoting its Cloud Player while giving customers faster access to the music they purchase from Amazon.