Online Music Services
The increase of iPods and other MP3 players across the country and the world has led to the proliferation of online music services, which provide legal music downloads used for MP3 downloading. The early online music providers, including Napster, Kazaa, and Limewire provided plenty of controversy by allowing peer-to-peer (P2P) transfer of music and video files without fees. While copycat P2P sites still exist, there are plenty of legitimate MP3 options available for the discerning MP3 consumer.
Apple’s iTunes site is the pre-eminent online music site to date. With more than three million songs to choose from, iPod users have plenty of options. As well, iTunes now has downloads of television, music videos, and movies available for Mac and PC users for reasonable prices. Apple has been in some hot water over the last year because of their consideration of raising their 99-cent music download price. As well, iTunes only works with Apple iPods. While iPods are ubiquitous on streets and homes, they don’t cover the entire market, leaving out a great deal of consumers who use alternate MP3 players. However, Apple has been at the forefront of multimedia technology over the last decade and iTunes should grow over time.
Napster, the former P2P network, has become a legitimate threat to iTunes and other competitors in the online music market. Napster offers five free listens to most downloads in their two million song catalog before consumers have to purchase the track. Track prices are competitive with iTunes but Napster allows a great number of MP3 players to download from their site. As well, Napster has started to develop their own MP3 player that may develop into a solid contender for Apple’s MP3 crown. For an unlimited access to Napster’s music catalog, one need only pay $9.95 per month, while unlimited downloads to MP3 players costs only $14.95 per month.
eMusic is a newer online music provider but it offers some options that other sites do not. eMusic costs $9.99 per month for 40 downloads with the price per song going down as consumers pick higher priced, premium plans. While the limit on songs may be frustrating to some, the breadth of labels, independents, and record companies that are covered in eMusic is impressive. As well, eMusic allows downloads to all manners of MP3s, including iPods, and unlimited burning of CDs with downloaded music. In addition, new members get 10 free downloads to test out the site before their trial period is over.
A fourth option, and one that provides more insight into the music industry, is Rhapsody. Rhapsody offers a free option, which allows subscribers to listen to 25 full length songs per month, access to 25 Rhapsody radio stations, and articles on music and musicians. The premium plan is $9.99 per month, which includes the radio stations and articles, along with unlimited access to more than two million songs which can be downloaded to a variety of MP3 players and burned to CDs. Rhapsody is a strong competitor with Napster as far as value pricing, but the edge has to go to Rhapsody because of the background information that Rhapsody offers its subscribers.
While consumers will have their preferences depending on price, amount of downloads, and other options, the clear victor for iPod users is iTunes and the winner among other MP3 players is Rhapsody. While all these sites offer something different for online music consumers, iTunes has now delved into providing video options and offers a glimpse into the future of MP3 technology. Rhapsody beats the rest of the competition with its large MP3 library, its in-depth analysis, and its wide range of listening options (MP3, media players, CDs, etc.).
