By Whitson Gordon
Dear Lifehacker,
I’m tired of Spotify and I want to move back to buying music. iTunes has a great selection, but will I still be able to play those songs if I switch away from Apple products? Would Amazon MP3, Google Play, or physical CDs be better? Do the artists make better money at one store than another? Help!
Sincerely,
Tricky Tunes
Dear Tricky,
You’re in luck: while buying music may seem complicated, it’s actually quite simple—most stores aren’t all that different from one another. Here’s what you need to know.
[h=3]You Can Play Any Store’s Music on Any Player[/h]
Note that this only applies to music. Movies, TV shows, and ebooks still have DRM on them, so don’t buy those from iTunes unless you want to get locked into Apple products (or you want to go through the somewhat annoying process of removing DRM). Photo by Gavin Baker.
[h=3]Quality Is Comparable Across the Board (with a Few Exceptions)[/h]
The main exception: If you buy an album on CD (as well as from smaller online stores like Bandcamp, Beatport, and others), you can store your music in higher-quality lossless format. This probably won’t give you a better listening experience out of the gate, but it is handy if you want to ever convert that music to a different format (again, see our guide to bitrate for more information).
The bottom line? Any legal music source will be high enough quality for most people, so don’t worry about it unless you have special needs.
[h=3]Most Artists Make the Same Amount of Money at Each Store[/h]
Things start to get a little fuzzier when you buy from independent artists, however. If the artist in question have a physical CD for sale that they pressed themselves, that will definitely give them the most money, though indie outlets like Bandcamp and CD Baby are also great ways to support them. They’ll make less on iTunes and Amazon, so avoid these if you can. Again, going to their web site (or just asking them on Facebook or Twitter) will give you a better idea of what’s best for them.
[h=3]Cloud Services Are the Real Difference Between Each Online Store[/h]
It doesn’t matter too much—each service supports music from the other stores. For example, you can buy a song on Amazon MP3 and get it on iTunes Match, or buy a song on iTunes and upload it to Google Music. However, each store gives you other benefits when you buy from them. For example, if you buy a song on Google Play or Amazon MP3, it’ll appear in your cloud library without you having to upload it. If you buy a song on Amazon MP3, it also won’t count toward your 500 song limit, which is nice. See our guide to online music stores for more information about these services and their advantages and disadvantages.
[h=3]Check Each Store Regularly for the Best Deals[/h] Lastly, you may want to consider price. If you aren’t tied to a specific service, check around regularly for the best deal on a specific album. Stores like Google Play and Amazon MP3 often have big sales, especially on older albums, so that’s a great time to fill out your collection. Amazon MP3 also offers you free MP3 credits when you buy stuff from Amazon.com, which can be pretty handy. A good way to stay up on deals is to follow Amazon MP3, Google Play, and other stores on Twitter—they’ll keep you abreast of the latest deals and freebies.
All in all, it doesn’t matter too much where you buy your music. In fact, buying from different sources each time can net you better prices and help support the artists you love, so if you’re willing to do the extra research, being open-minded can help you come out ahead. Good luck, and enjoy the tunes.
Sincerely,
Lifehacker
Title image remixed from vasabii (Shutterstock).
