If you’re excited about Lady Gaga‘s new album Born This Way but money is tight, Amazon has got your back. The digital retailer is selling the standard version of Gaga’s long-awaited record for only 99 cents as an mp3 download. Even for Amazon, who routinely sell new releases for $3.99, this is an extremely deep discount.
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Amazon’s motives for the sale are pretty transparent. They are using Gaga’s album as a loss leader to promote their new Cloud Drive service and are clearly hoping to cut into the sales of the album on iTunes, where the standard edition is going for $11.99. (The iTunes store is also heavily promoting an expanded edition with bonus tracks and remixes for $15.99.)
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Amazon isn’t the only major retailer using Born This Way as a loss leader. Best Buy is giving away free CDs and digital downloads of the album to customers who purchase particular models of cell phones in a special promotion. The big box chain is also selling the disc for $7.99.