Music
Review the information below to learn more about each service then click on the hot link to leave Birdtrax and visit the web site.
Amazon was the first place that sold songs without DRM protections. Amazon has contracts with Sony-BMG, EMI, Universal, and Warner. They have a huge selection but you have to fight your way through all the rest of the stuff they are selling to find the downloads versus the snail mail stuff. See Unbox for their movies. Price: Top 100 – 89 ¢/ea. Albums $4.99 and up. iPod compatible.
Provides DRM free songs from artists without major label contracts. Interesting thing about this service is its pricing scheme. Prices reflect the actual popularity of the track similar to an auction. Music downloads cost anywhere from nothing to 98¢ depending on the frequency of downloads and popularity of the artist. Styles include Funk, Hip-Hop, Acoustic, Alternative, Electronic, Indie Rock, R&B, Pop and Rock. Has Feature of the Day song and reviews of songs by regular people just like you. Price 0 - 98¢ iPod compatible.
If you like eMusic you will probably like Audio Lunchbox too. More than 2 million songs across the spectrum for music lovers. It is subscription or per unit based – you choose. All downloads are VBR MP3 files. 50 free when you sign on. You keep the downloads even if you stop the subscription. Price: $9.99/mo to $250/yr. subscription or by song. iPod compatible.
2.5 million tunes second only to iTunes. Started in 1998 as a subscription based service. Two sizes: $9.99/ mo. for 30 downloads per month; or $19.99/mo. for up to 75 downloads per month. What’s really cool with this subscription service is you get to keep the songs when you end the service unlike other subscription services. New users get 25 free songs. NO popular labels here but lots of other DRM free music. iPod compatible.
The Eight Hundred Pound Gorilla! They have it all. Downloads include 30,000 audio books, 6 million tunes, games, 600 TV shows and music videos. Over 20 million files to choose from. A 3 minute set up. Costs: Movies $2.99 -$9.99. Songs 99¢/ea. Music Video 99¢/ea. TV Shows $1.99 an episode. Games for iPods $4.99 ea.
Flac format or Ogg Vorbis files which ever you prefer are DRM free. Web page describes how to transfer to iPods and supports most operating systems. See FAQ for more details. Songs are not major labels but independent artists and small record labels. Price based on file format and length of compression. Hard core music buffs. IPod compatible.
This webpage is devoted to artists and their music in their own words describing their work. New podcasts are posted every few weeks. A hip way to meet new artists, learn about them and their music.
Over 5 million songs pop, hip-hop, rock, country, jazz, classical. Subscription based as low as $9.95/mo. Free 7 day trial. Once you stop the subscription the music you downloaded will no longer be playable. Owns AOL Music. Not compatible with iPod.
An internet radio station that produces custom stations based upon the styles of artists that you alread like, using the Music Genome Project®. The stations that Pandora creates must be listened to online, and cannot be downloaded to portable music device, although it can be accessed from some AT&T mobile phones. Cost : free with ads.
PC Magazine editors rate this as the top music site because of ease of use. Four million songs are in CD format. Large selection of live and early songs from every musical genre, including comedy and live radio are available for listening or/and downloading depending on which option you choose: RhaspodyToGo (Windows only) or Rhapsody Unlimited. With either you get 25 free songs a month. Play Music on your PC, Home Stereo and TiVo. They have added music videos and recently lyrics to songs.
Listen to as many tracks as you wish by paying a monthly subscription fee ranging $13 to $15; account allows 25 free tracks per month. You can burn to a CD and use Rhapsody software to burn CD’s from your MP3. Not compatible with iPod
A legal, ad-supported downloading system specifically for college students. Also accessible through Facebook which then allows file sharing with others. Contains over 3 million tracks. Uses PlaysForSure Subscription mp3 players (requires Ruckus to Go account, PlaysForSure Subscription mp3 player, and Windows Media 11). Cost: free with ads. Not compatible with iPods
Purchase Books, movies and video games snail mailed to you. Download over one million songs.
Cost is 94¢/song to $9.22/album for non-DRM and 88¢/song to $9.44/album for DRM protected. Internet explorer is the only browser they support. When checking out you have to download songs individually. It’s a windows environment too. Mac users there is a work around but it’s pretty complicated—you can find it on the web in some blogs about WalMart downloading. Note: One blog this editor read indicated that lyrics Walmart objects to are edited, don’t know if that’s true or not.
Games, music (over 2 million), music videos, internet radio, news and blogs. A subscription based service which allows you a 14-day free trial of the whole track (not just 30-seconds) but if you don’t cancel, you are automatically enrolled. Costs: 71.88/year ($5.99 per month); or $8.99 per month if billed monthly to download to your computer – they cannot be transferred to another device. You must purchase them for another 79¢ (or $9.99 album) if you want to “keep” them and burn them to a CD or otherwise store them forever. When you stop the subscription, you lose the songs. Advertising supported. No copying or file transferring to other users.
Microsoft purchasable product that offers music videos, 3 million songs, albums, DRM-free MP3s. Can listen to 30 second sample clips of the weekly featured artists/albums. Share audio files Zune-to-Zune through partnering web sites. Joining creates a profile page to share within Zune community.
No iTunes or Rhapsody; only works with Zune’s proprietary DRM or a DRM free file like Amazon's MP3s or "iTunes plus" AAC tracks. Supports Windows Media DRM system but is incompatible with other DRM systems and is not part of PlaysForSure.
Cost: $14.99/mo. Unlimited downloads.
