Never buy mp3's from Itunes

Speaking of the new Android phone, this is exactly why I have told everyone I know to NEVER buy a song from iTunes. I never have and am incredibly grateful for my choice.

Read on, after the jump...


See, now that this new awesome phone is coming out (that is not an iPhone), all of my mp3’s will easily transfer over from my computer to my new Android, and play immediately. If I had bought my songs from iTunes? Screwed. Because of the DRM (Digital Rights Management). I know Apple says it’s not their fault, that the record companies require it…or that you can buy the plus version of songs for an extra charge that does not include DRM. But with so many other choices out there to download your music without copy protection, without restriction to iTunes only, and they are usually CHEAPER, why would you possibly use iTunes?

My friends that have purchased any/all of their songs through iTunes can’t move it to another device other than an Apple device. This is nuts in my book. (Side note, I think it’s amusing how iPod has replaced the general term for an mp3 player among most of the world. There are many more mp3 players on the market, some better, some much worse, and Apple CERTAINLY did not INVENT the mp3 player, yet they’ve become the Kleenex or the Windex of mp3 players. I admit that is good marketing!)

www.amazon.com/mp3 will find you most of your songs, and most full album purchases can put you at around $0.80 per song.

My new favorite, www.lala.com has the same prices for DRM free music, but you get one FULL preview of any song that you want. There are other very cool features too, such as being able to access your library from anywhere that you have an internet connection.

The subscription site that I am a member of, www.emusic.com which you have to pay a monthly fee for which allows for you to download a set number of tracks, but that works out to you only paying between $0.30 and $0.50 per song…now that is a deal. Catch though is that you have to like indie music and be willing to discover new artists. This has been my primary music discovery service for the past 2 years, and I now have about 30 gigs of music, all of which I have downloaded legally and discovered on my own, and I actually like almost all of it…..just can’t get myself to delete something I paid for even if I’ve grown tired of it.

And of course there are many others out there, but these are just the 3 I use.

So don't pay more for an mp3 from a site that is going to limit your freedom.



PS. one of my favourite sites is www.anythingbutipod.com, if that gives you an idea of where I'm coming from. :)