Following months of discussion amid their earlier announcement, Amazon.com, looking to siphon some business from Apple, jumped into the digital music download business Tuesday by offering 2.3 million songs that can play on any portable device -- including the popular iPod, reports the Seattle-Post Intelligencer.

Significantly, Amazon is selling more than one million of those tracks -- but not all of them -- at 89 cents, or 10 cents under what Apple charges.

"We don't spend a lot of time talking about iTunes' pricing. Our goal at Amazon is to provide great value to our customers," said Peter Baltaxe, director of digital music for Seattle-based Amazon, in the article. "We think our customers will appreciate the lower prices."

Amazon is selling all of the music without DRM (digital rights management) software in MP3 format. This means you can buy tracks and play them anywhere you want -- your cell phone, your car, your computer, or your iPod, Zune, or other portable MP3 player.

Amazon starts music store [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]