I still can’t figure out why so many people use iTunes to get their music fix. After installing it to manage the Entertainment 2.0 I found the interface clunky, slow, and just a pain to navigate. Add to this the fact that Apple charges a premium for DRM free content and I’ll never understand. I personally love using my Zune software and my subscription. Unlimited access to the catalog plus 10 tracks to keep, DRM free, each month.
Ed Bott has decided it’s time to compare some of the other services out there and has used several criteria for his testing. The services in question are Zune Marketplace, Lala, Rhapsody, eMusic, Amie Street and Amazon MP3. Each services has it’s pluses and minuses and Mr. Bott puts them to the test.
From the article:
Apple’s success in digital music is not for lack of competition, however. Over the past few months, I’ve been sampling all of the major U.S.-based competitors to the iTunes Music Store, as well as a few fascinating minor-league competitors. In this post, I’ll show you how each one stacks up against iTMS in terms of pricing and available features. After my testing was complete, I had a new favorite music service, and after you read my report you might decide it’s right for you too.
In all, I compared iTunes to six competitors, all of which sell music downloads sanctioned by the labels that own the digital rights to those tunes: Amazon MP3, Zune Marketplace (Microsoft), and Rhapsody (RealNetworks) are all divisions of much larger companies; eMusic, Lala, and Amie Street are smaller independent services trying to carve out niches.
Ed has done a great job giving us the ups and downs of each service. Sometimes price isn’t the only factor in choosing which service to go with and he lays everything out in plain language.
What music service do you use and why? Share with us in the comments!
