Thursday, July 16, 2009

Music: Amazon

Since it’s become unprofitable due to draconian measures taken by RIAA to stop illegal mp3(music) downloading where can you buy music? Well iTunes generally has cornered the market due to it’s popularity of the iPhone and iPod. iTunes generally gets all the press and glory. Music is available through other legitimate sources.

 

Amazon which built it’s empire selling books also sells mp3 music. Though I have used iTunes I actually prefer using Amazon for searching for music to download. Originally started using Amazon due iTunes having DRM(Digital Rights Management ) encoded  in the music. Which meant you had limited rights to play your music on so many devices. Which to was like if you bought a CD of music you could only play it on players made by a certain company. Apple has since changed this and has loosened it’s grip. The other reason is mp3 format versus AAC format. Technically speaking AAC format is the better format, The mp3 format I believe offers more freedom to be used with many more devices. Plus I think I have a bit of rebelliousness towards iTunes and Apples grip in this market so I wanted to try something different.

 

 

Screenshot - 7_16_2009 , 12_36_18 PM

Amazon offers a wide variety of music and is well organized in a way that is easy to search through. I’ve rarely searched for something and not found it on Amazon. Prices for albums are generally $9.99 but they frequently have special for albums for $4.99 or less which can have some gems if you search through. Individual songs are anywhere from $.69, $.99 or $1.29. Amazon does have a download helper which is a small download and automatically downloads your purchase and will integrate with iTunes or other media players. It’s fast and easy and you can be listening to your purchase in minutes(depending on your download speed). 

 

This is just my personal preference. If you have an iPod or iPhone I’m sure you’ll go with iTunes. Otherwise Amazon music is a very good choice in my opinion. What is your choice for music download purchases?

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