omparing online music websites
The best reviews of music download services are at computer-oriented magazines and websites. PCMag.com reviews the most music sites, and its individual reviews have plenty of details. It’s also the most up-to-date. CNET covers fewer websites that offer music downloads, but does a good job in clearly outlining the differences between them, although some of their reviews are rather old. Another useful and especially interesting music downloads roundup, though dated, comes from an unlikely source: AFBAccessWorld.com, a website for blind and visually impaired people. The review’s author, Janet Ingber, signs up for five major download services, and reports what she finds concerning catalog size, usability, customer service and other features.
Most reviews of music download services favor the bigger sites, which have had the most time to mature and expand their catalogs. If you’re mainly interested in mainstream pop or alternative music, reviewers say most online music services have very similar catalogs, but things are more uneven if your tastes run to jazz, classical, world or indie recordings. Unfortunately, most reviewers don’t delve too deeply into genre issues, but instead tend to focus on price, user interface, compatibility with iPods or other MP3 players and (sometimes) copyright concerns. If music that veers from the mainstream is of interest to you, we suggest checking out the catalogs of any online music sites you are considering before committing to a long-term relationship. Most sites for music downloads will let you browse their catalogs before subscribing and/or offer a free trial. There are a number of smaller sites that cater to a specific niche.
The biggest shift since our last update is that most of the major online music services, including iTunes, are now offering their songs in a DRM-free file format which lifts restrictions on copying and burning tracks. One caveat is that Apple’s iTunes uses a format called AAC that is only compatible with Apple’s iPod players and computers equipped with Apple iTunes software. This means songs purchased from iTunes cannot be downloaded to non-iPod MP3 players without first converting those songs into a WMA or MP3 format, a process that can be tedious. On the other hand, most of the major music download sites offer non-DRM protected MP3 files, so iPod/iPhone users can get tracks from indie-oriented eMusic (*Est. $12 per month and up), AmazonMP3 (*Est. 69 cents to $1.29 per track) and Napster (*Est. $5 per month and up). For more information on music file formats and DRM, see the “What to Look For” section of this report
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