Amazon MP3's Baltaxe talks to WSJ

WHAT’S THE DAMN DEAL? Amazon typically pays the full wholesale price for its Daily Deal albums—generally $7 to $8—and eats the loss. Offering aggressive discounts is a strategy that the largest online-only retailer has used across its businesses, and it helps attract new customers. "If you look across the board, we have been very competitive on price," said Amazon MP3 topper Pete Baltaxe. The Daily Deal is "a great way to get people excited about trying Amazon." But Baltaxe wouldn’t comment on how Amazon chooses which tracks or albums to discount, or who pays for those discounts, nor was he willing to reveal what Amazon's MP3 sales, growth or marketshare were. "What we have found is that customers who try our service love it," he asserted, but declined to characterize how much return business Amazon gets. (12/17a)