We all knew that the Canonical is bringing out a music store called  Ubuntu One Music Store ^[1]. It has been in closed beta for quite some time now and all that we knew about it came from the few beta testers’ blogs. However, today Canonical feels that the Music Store is ready for the public and has released it to the public. The store is, however, still considered as a beta.

If you had missed all the news surrounding Canonical’s new and shiny music store, here is a quick recap on it:

• The Ubuntu One Music Store will be powered by 7digital ^[2], a privately owned digital media delivery company based in the UK.
• Tracks offered by 7digital for the Ubuntu One Music Store will be available in MP3 format without any DRM.
• Musics that you buy from the store goes to your Ubuntu One storage.
• The store is integrated into Rythmbox although plugins may be available for Banshee as well.
• Region are divided in Ubuntu One Music Store as
  - UK
  - USA
  - Germany
  - Rest of the EU (i.e. not UK and Germany)
  - Rest of the World (i.e. none of the above listed countries)

When Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Beta 1 was released, Ubuntu One Music Store was not included with it contrary to  expectations, although an icon was included with Rythmbox. However, if you are already using Lucid, you can start using Ubuntu One Music Store. To do it do the following:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install rhythmbox-ubuntuone-music-store

After it has been installed, you can enable it from Edit -> Plugins. Keep in mind that it is still a beta and remember to file any bug if you encounter one. Sadly it is not available in Karmic.

The way Canonical has choosen to divide the region has already created some complaints ^[3].  Different regions will have different music available. For example customers from “Rest of the World” will not be able to buy music from any major labels.

[via Digitizor ^[4]]