I bought the new Snow Patrol album the other night.
Usually, when I buy music, I use iTunes because it it so easy and they really execute it well. I can buy a track on my iPhone from where ever I am, as long as I’m on a wifi connection. But, then I get the DRM and the headaches that brings along (I can’t put it on a non-IPOD MP3 player, for example, so one of my kids can listen to it).
But this time, I didn’t bother with iTunes and tried out Amazon’s new MP3 service. Although it’s not as convenient as iTunes and I had to boot up the ol’ computer to use it, it allowed me to download the tracks as MP3 format–completely DRM free. It added the tracks (with all the right ID3 tags, etc) straight into iTunes and Windows Media Player. I paid for the music like an adult and they treated me like an adult.
To use Amazon’s MP3 service, you just add the album to your shopping basket like everything else, and then download an MP3 downloader program which is a little window that does nothing but lists the tracks it’s downloading.
The process is very smooth. I am also able to listen to the tracks on my Ubuntu laptop without any fuss.
I mentioned how nice this service is to someone the other day (well, more than just one someone) and was asked, “You actually paid for the music?”
Yes. Yes I did. It cost me only around £6.50 (but older albums are £3), and I can listen to it completely guilt-free.
Anyway, if you buy music, give the Amazon service a try. It’s nice to see some decent competition out there for iTunes.
Thanks for the write up. I think I’ll try out Amazon next time. My wife still likes purchasing actual CD’s but I’ve been using iTunes. So the bigger question, how is the new Snow Patrol album? I’ve been thinking about picked that up also. I haven’t heard any of the songs yet though.
@Derek
Thanks Derek. The album is okay. I don’t think it’s as good as Eyes Open. I’ve been listening to it for a few days, but don’t have any that really stick in my head. But that’s just me- no one ever accused me of being a music affecionado.
Ah, man. CDs still? CDs have really become just a transport mechanism for bringing the music home from the store. They’re like plastic bags. Pretty soon, we’ll start talking about how CDs are bad for the environment. Still, I keep all my old CDs just in case all of my computers and MP3 players crash at once 🙂