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A solid service ideal for the average music downloader with additional entertainment needs and unlike eMusic, has a music library of over 6 million songs including major artists.
Their customer service ranked high answering our questions thoroughly and emails within 24 hours and while Napster may be a better fit for the heavy downloader, Superpass has an edge on value additionally providing all members with games, access to movie downloads, and high quality online television with shows like Big Brother and MythBusters.
With their 14 day trial, interested users can download 10 free songs and test the service to see if it's right for them before becoming a member.
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A great music website however one thing to take into consideration is that eMusic does not carry songs from artists signed to major labels so many of your top 40 artists may not be found. Never the less, their library still exceeds 4.5 million songs from genres of music throughout the spectrum, and they offer an incredible free trial incentive of 25 free MP3 songs which are yours to keep whether you decide to continue with the music service or not.
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Recently acquired by Best Buy, Napster is the service for the true music lovers who require loads of new music regularly. They are the last remaining music subscription service we review still offering the unlimited streaming model.
With a library of over 8 million songs, members can listen to any songs they want at any time. No limits. Other services have offered this before but all have either changed their business model, or shut down completely, leaving Napster an edge and appeal to the heavy music downloaders.
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Amazon MP3 is a pay-per-song service. Simply look for the individual songs or albums you want and pay for the download. Music files are in MP3 format making them compatible with practically any portable music player (including iPods) and burning software. Prices are very reasonable with songs generally under $1, and albums $9-$11.
This site is great if you only want a few songs, however if you download roughly an album's worth per month, it is much more economical to go with a subscription based music download site.
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A pay-per-song site with the largest music library boasting over 10 million songs, however slightly higher prices than Amazon MP3, along with a slightly more complicated downloading software in our opinion which is needed to use the service. One positive aspect is that iTunes will sometimes have exclusive tracks from various artists which you can not find anywhere else, along with artist extras such as music videos and live performances. For music fans who want everything possibly available from their favourite artist, you are likely to find it here.
Read Full Review.
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We want to help you find the right music subscription site so to get started, think about your downloading habits and ask yourself a few questions:
- How much music do I download a month.
- What format do I need music to be in (for iPods, MP3 format or iTunes is needed).
- How important is music selection and am I looking for top 40 artists.
We put together this chart and following is some helpful information that will assist you in deciding on the right site for you from our list of top music subscription and pay-per-song services.
# |
Site |
Score |
Songs |
Top 40 |
MP3 |
WMA |
Free Trial |
Review |
1. |
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9.4 / 10 |
+6,000,000 |
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2. |
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8.6 / 10 |
+4,500,000 |
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3. |
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8.4 / 10 |
+8,000,000 |
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4. |
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7.2 / 10 |
+6,000,000 |
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5. |
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6.6 / 10 |
+10,000,000 |
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Average Music Downloads a Month of +50 Songs
For the real music lovers, if you are one to download lots of music regularly, our top recommended music download site at this time is Napster as it is the only service still offering unlimited music streaming from the sites we review which means you can listen to as much music as you like from their library of over 8 million songs with no limits as opposed to buying each individual track that peaks your interest.
Considering the amount of music available to their members, it is also an economical choice over other services for the heavy downloader. For $15, you get 3 months of service giving you access to their full library of music which currently holds over 8 million songs including the latest hits, some exclusive tracks, popular oldies, loads of indie music, and pretty much anything else you can think of. In addition to unlimited streaming, subscribers get 20 MP3 downloads to keep even if they choose to cancel or terminate their subscription. That alone is worth well over the $15. A quick comparison, at iTunes, for 20 downloads, you're looking at spending roughly $25 ever since their pricing scale has popular songs at $1.29 each so you're already way ahead.
Music lovers, if you know you need a lot of new and fresh music regularly, don't bother on a pay-per-song site. Napster is a much more economical choice.
Average Music Downloads a Month Between 10 - 50 songs
Under 50 songs a month, Napster is still a great fit for the sheer value of their low cost monthly subscription service, but now eMusic becomes a great contender for the cost. Their service is based on a monthly subscription which lets you download 30, 50, or up to 75 songs a month depending on your plan. The amount of downloads is reset at the beginning of each month.
At the moment, they do not offer most of the top 40 artists as they do not have distribution deals with the major labels so if you're looking for the Britney Spears, Madonna, Rihanna type of artists, you may want to take a look at some of the other music sites on the page. They do however have millions of songs from most of the indie labels and indie acts around which covers a large spectrum and gives you an idea of how many big name indie artists are actually out there.
On a positive note, they are confident enough with their service that they are offering 25 free MP3 downloads, no strings attached, just for trying them out.
Average Music Downloads a Month -10 songs
For the average music downloader (roughly 10 music downloads or an album's worth of songs a month), our top recommended music download site is SuperPass whose customer service ranked the highest out of the sites we reviewed, has one of the most user friendly layouts in our opinion, and whose value surpasses other services by offering not only a large library of music to download from, but a full range of online entertainment to their members with monthly games, full movie downloads, and access to online television shows from the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Plant and many more. Their current promotion lets you try the service free for 14 days and download 10 songs of your choice which are yours to keep even if you choose not to continue with the service.
If you don't feel SuperPass is right for you, what you need is a solid pay-per-song site as opposed to a subscription based service. These sites set prices on a per song download basis so no monthly fees. Individual songs are roughly $1 on average with albums around $10. With a huge library of over 6 million songs and great prices, we recommend Amazon as a first option followed by the iTunes site which is a bit pricier and has more complex software in our opinion.
What Makes These Music Sites Legal
What makes the music download sites we have on our site legal is that in the end, the artist is paid for their work. All download sites on this page in one form or another have deals in place with the bands and artists' labels or representatives which gives them permission to distribute the songs online. When someone subscribes to one of the sites above, or buys an individual track or album, the services above pay the labels and representatives, who then pay out a portion (depending on their arrangements) to the artists which makes the system completely legal as opposed to file sharing programs where artists are not paid.
If you have specific questions or needs that were not addressed in the material provided through our site, please don't hesitate to contact us and we will be glad to help.
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