Tips for buying music online

As music connoisseurs worldwide already know, Windows Media Player 11 is the ultimate digital music jukebox, letting you store, catalog, and enjoy your entire audio collection on your PC without skipping a beat.

Included with Windows Vista and available free to Genuine Windows XP users, Windows Media Player gets your party started—a few clicks is all it takes for you to vastly expand your audio horizons online.

So get ready to boogie… Following is everything an Internet user needs to know to instantly sample, shop for, download, and share millions of hit singles and albums from the recording industry's biggest names.

URGE—just one of nearly a dozen great ways Windows Media Player 11 users can buy music online. Click to open larger image.

Purchasing options

Two ways exist to purchase music online:

1. By the song/album—Browse by individual song or record, with most singles available for under a dollar.

Pros:

• Immediate savings

• Pay as you go

• Music is yours to keep

• Copy to CD/MP3 player on demand

Cons:

• Costly in the long run

• Tunes come one track at a time

• Best suited to casual admirers

Examples: Wal-Mart Music Downloads, Puretracks, MusicGiants

2. Subscription—Enjoy unlimited access to millions of songs for one low monthly price (average: $10–15).

Pros:

• All-you-can-eat approach

• Cheaper for frequent shoppers

• Sample in full before buying

Cons:

• Songs expire when subscription does

• Can't burn to CD without buying

• Copying to portable music player costs extra

• Incompatibility with certain players

Examples: URGE, Napster, f.y.e Download Zone

How to buy

1. Load Windows Media Player 11.

2. On the top menu bar, click the arrow located just below the URGE tab. Choose Browse All Online Stores.

   

   Browse online music stores from directly within Windows Media Player. Click to open larger image.

3. The Choice of Online Stores window opens. Under the Categories menu, located on the left-hand side of the screen, select Music.

   

   Choose which online music store that you want to shop from. Click to open larger image.

4. Click the appropriate logo to select a vendor.

5. Follow the chosen provider's instructions to register for an account and begin downloading individual tracks or entire albums.

If you've purchased by the track: Select the Windows Media Player 11 Library tab, located at the top of your screen, and choose Music from the drop-down menu.

Use the Library tab to download individual tracks to your computer. Click to open larger image.

Note: Click the Library tab itself next if a list of songs/albums doesn't immediately appear.

Congratulations—this music is now yours to archive and appreciate. Just select the desired tune or record with your mouse and press play, or double-click to listen.

If you're using a subscription service: Just double-click the track to begin streaming the highlighted song, or select Download or Buy to purchase and enjoy as above.

Hints and tips

A few important points to consider before virtually adding music to your collection:

• Availability—Like traditional record shops, all pay-as-you-go and online music subscription services feature unique inventories. Before signing up with one, always check to make sure that they host the artists and albums you're looking for.

  

  Many providers such as SongTouch specialize in specific musical categories. Click to open larger image.

  Hint: Some services specialize in different genres, e.g. SongTouch, which touts an impressive catalog of Christian music.

• Ownership—The trade-off for subscribing to a monthly service is that you don't own the music you're paying for. Fail to upkeep your membership, and you'll lose access to this content. Likewise, you'll have to purchase individual songs (albeit at a sizable discount) in order to burn them to CD. It may also cost as much as $5 extra/month for the right to copy this music to an MP3 player.

• Frequency—Do you plan on downloading a single song here and there or dozens of tracks each month? Serious audiophiles looking to feed their addiction may be better off taking a one-size-fits-all subscription plan versus shelling out by the track.

  Hint: eMusic offers a handy compromise, letting you buy a set number of songs each month—which you own, and can copy to CD/MP3 player as much as you like—for as little as $0.27 apiece.

  

  eMusic combines the best features of subscription and pay-as-you-go services. Click to open larger image.

• Compatibility—Some digital audio file formats and subscription services aren't compatible with various portable music players and systems. (Happily, as a rule, PlaysForSure devices are generally a safe bet.) Don't forget to read the fine print before signing on the dotted line.

• Accessibility—All providers take artists' intellectual property rights seriously. As a result of these security measures, songs purchased from one outlet are typically incompatible with other vendors. Therefore, it pays to pick a single service provider and stick with them.