Online Music Store Comparison

Compare music stores by price, quality and restrictions (incl. DRM).

"I want to buy songs online. I hate DRM and proprietary file formats. Where should I shop for my music?"

Tags: music, store, compare, online, song, price, file format, bitrate, DRM, digital restriction, proprietary, comparison, table, chart

Click "Go" to sort/filter by song catalog, minimum price/song, restrictions, file format, bitrate, etc. (requires Javascript)

(If you want to print out this page, print before pressing "Go" for better results.)

• In each column, most desired value emphasized in bold type.
• Song Catalog: Number of songs in millions. Updated November 22nd, 2007.
• Minimum Price per Song: All prices in USD (US Dollars).
• Minimum Price per Album: A price of "0.00" means that the store does not offer albums.
• Bitrate: Amount of audio information (detail) measured in kbps (kilobits per second). Higher bitrate = higher quality.
• MP3: MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. Popular audio file format. Wide support. Platform-independent. De facto standard.
• WMA: Windows Media Audio. Proprietary audio file format. Developed by Microsoft. Supports DRM.
• AAC: Advanced Audio Coding. Audio file format. Uses proprietary technology. Supports DRM.
• DRM: Digital Restrictions Management. User-hostile, anti-competitive schemes that violate your fair use rights (see below).
• Note to PureTracks Branding Team: We think there is nothing "pure" about DRM or Linux-unfriendly file formats.
• Link Policy: We do not link to sites that support DRM or operating system restrictions.
• This chart is offered for entertainment purposes only.
• A link is not necessarily an endorsement of the music store or the songs it sells.
• While every effort has been made to create an accurate comparison chart, we cannot guarantee the accuracy, reliability or suitability of data.
• All trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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Why I Hate DRM and Proprietary File Formats (Rant)

• violate my fair use right to make backup copies for personal use
• violate my fair use right to "space shift" - transfer songs I own to my mp3 player, cell phone, etc.
• violate copyright law by extending length of "copyright" beyond what is allowable by law
• are used to control market share (through vendor lock-in)
• are used to kill free market competition (by locking competitors out of market)
• are used to increase company profit at the expense of consumers
• are usually poorly or maliciously coded (can compromise security of my PC)
• inflate my hardware and software costs
• will cost consumers an estimated $9 billion by 2012
• bring absolutely no value to consumers
• do nothing to protect artist rights

• make me pay for the DRM used to steal my fair use rights
• try to sell these stolen rights back to me (to increase their profit at my expense)
• make me pay more for less in terms of functionality and freedom

• cause interoperability problems
• limit my future choices of operating systems and hardware
• lead to vendor lock-in
• stifle competition

• TorrentCat Anti-DRM Resources (TorrentCat Legal Torrent Search Engine)

• (Pending)

• (Pending)

• add/correct a table item
• translate the table or part thereof into your native language
• create a new table (comparison or information)
• offer a suggestion for improvement

• jQuery (John Resig and the jQuery team)
• tableFilter (The Idea Mill)