For a number of years online music has tended to mean pirated music on peer-to-peer networks that are slow, prone to viruses and spyware, and full of mislabelled tracks. But anyone who has tried one of the new legal download services will know that the experience is entirely different and much more satisfactory. The latest people to join the UK’s legal download market are Apple, whose iTunes Music Store in the US have already sold over 80 million tracks in just over a year of business. While CD sales have been in decline, the growth of iTunes in the US has shown that the music industry is far from dead, and that in fact a fast, reliable and legal music download service will go a long way towards revitalising music sales.
The arrival of iTunes in the UK is excellent news for UK music fans, not least because
they’re the first online music seller whose pricing is routinely less than 99p per track. iTunes also hugely increases the choices available to you when you want to buy new music.
iTunes main competition in the UK comes from Napster who launched last month and from Peter Gabriel’s OD2 service – currently Europe's most popular download service. OD2. Unlike iTunes and Napster OD2 does not its own stores –Instead it provides the technology to retailers such as HMV, Virgin, MTV, MSN and Tiscali.
>> Click here to read Website of the Day’s comparison of the Napster and OD2 services
This week OD2 have also launched a new service called Sonic Selector. This is a software download which works with Windows Media Player (on PCs only) to provide an online penny jukebox. Your 1p lets you listen once to any track in OD2’s catalogue, making it an excellent way to hear an album in full for around 20p before deciding whether to buy or not. Both iTunes and Napster will let you listen to 30” clips free of charge, but you’ll have to pay more to listen to full tracks.
OD2 are also trumpeting Sonic Selector’s recommendation features, which help users disover new music, boasting “It’s like walking into your local record shop and finding everything you want in one aisle, with a helpful assistant who can recommend what you might like, all at the touch of a button.”
For my money, iTunes narrowly pips Napster for ease of use, and trumps both its opponents on price (Although if you’re quick of the mark OD2 have various short-term offers which effectively mean half-price downloads which workout at 50p a track)
Both iTunes and Napster are a pleasure to use with many terrific features and a bunch of exclusive content – Although both services offer a catalogue of 700,000 tracks, I had more luck finding the music I wanted on Napster – iTunes have failed to agree online rights with many of the UK’s leading independent labels, which means if you’re looking for the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Basement Jaxx and the White Stripes you’ll be disappointed.
One of the deciding factors for many music fans will be compatibility with portable mp3 players. iTunes works only with Apple’s own (hugely popular) iPod devices. Although Napster and OD2 are not directly iPod-compatible, they do work with over 70 rival mp3 players, many of which are cheaper and have more features than Apple’s market-leading device.
>> For a more detailed comparison of the service offered by iTunes, OD2 and Napster see this guide from BBC News Online
LINKS
>> iTunes Music Store
>> Napster UK
>> OD2 Sonic Selector
>> Wippit
>> More info and links from Website of the Day
Website of the Day: Thursday June 17th
>> Svensation
>> Give Me Football
I went to the press conference this morning where Apple boss Steve Jobs announced the launch of the iTunes Music Store in the UK, France & Germany. This is the legal music download service that has sold over 80 million tracks in just over a year in the US, and proved that there is a genuine demand for good quality, fast, legal music downloads. 
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