Ed Hewitt Yet another Tech & Gaming Blog!

Amazon MP3 – The Music Store of Choice!

My loyalties have now switched to Spotify, but before it was with Amazon MP3. This article has been sitting on my todo list for too long, before I leave the service forever, I think it may be a good time to write this post.

The market leader in the music download business is sadly still iTunes, and its unlikely anytime soon it will change. Why is iTunes the market leader, when its the worst in its market, although same can be said for Windows Consumers need to open their eyes for the better service, and that is Amazon.

Both Amazon and iTunes provide the same-sort-of-service, with iTunes making it easier with syncing to your device. Music selection is pretty much exactly the same, both retaining the major record companies. Its the pricing and DRM where the differences lie.

On Pricing, Amazon tends to be cheaper, offering tracks as low as 49p to as high as 89p. While iTunes is higher at 69p t0 £1.20! Why is iTunes more! Your getting the same music, but at a lower bit rate on iTunes (128kbps on iTunes, 256 on Amazon).

DRM, my favourite topic, if you ask any of my 'geek' friends! Though in the past few  days I have become a hypocrite *cough* Spotify *cough*. iTunes in the past has in the past been dreadful with this, but in recent years, they have let go of some restrictions. However, music bought off iTunes is still full of DRM. Watermarking, requiring authentication to listen to purchased music and using a file format only used by Apple. My brother in the past few weeks has been a victim of Apple's DRM, and many others have when switching MP3 players or computers. Amazon is totally DRM free, allowing users to listen to their music where ever they want. My article about iTunes DRM can be found here.

Basically, STOP USING ITUNES! It maybe easier to use, for getting songs on your iPod. It is expensive, lower quality and full of DRM. iTunes was the service to use years ago, now its Amazon MP3!