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Other music download sites

The wave of consolidations noted above is far from over. Earlier in 2008, Rhapsody absorbed Yahoo! Music Unlimited. Verizon Wireless also signed on to distribute Rhapsody music content to mobile devices. All of these services offer music downloads in WMA format.

According to PC Magazine, the merger between Rhapsody and Yahoo! Music Unlimited is "more of a strategic partnership than a complete buyout." The intent is to utilize the Yahoo! Network's sizable audience to promote and expand Rhapsody's service. Rhapsody still trails a bit behind larger services, such as Napster and iTunes, in terms of content, with a library of about 5 million tracks.

One thing most critics point to as a positive is that Rhapsody has a better search interface than some other services, including Napster. At present, a Rhapsody subscription (*est. $13 per month) provides unlimited access to songs and a ten percent discount on purchased tracks (*est. 99¢ each or 89¢ with discount). Rhapsody To Go (*est. $15 per month) lets users download songs onto compatible MP3 players.

AmazonMP3's fledgling service offers individual tracks (*est. 89¢ to 99¢) and albums (*est. $5.99 to $9.99) for purchase in the form of DRM-free MP3 files, though there's no subscription service available. Many reviewers appreciate the fact that this file format imposes no restrictions on your purchases; users are free to listen on a PC or transfer the tracks to other devices.

Though AmazonMP3's library isn't as large as those of some of the bigger players in this market, pricing is good, and there's a nice mix of mainstream and independent artists represented. Unfortunately, some reviewers also note that the search function isn't especially user friendly. Digital Trends points out that being able to download an entire album is a nice option, but doing so requires installing AmazonMP3's software application onto your computer.

WalMart.com Music Downloads is as no-frills as its stores, reviewers say. And in keeping with its brick-and-mortar operations, its per-track price (*est. 74¢ and up) undercuts that of most other music download services. Some users might appreciate the fact that Wal-Mart won't sell any music that carries a Parent Advisory label for explicit lyrics. However, Wal-Mart's music catalog is less than half the size of iTunes, Napster and others and it does not offer a subscription service.

In 2007, Wal-Mart began offering music downloads in non-DRM-protected MP3 format. Prices are higher (*est. 94¢ each), but the tracks can be played on any MP3 device, including the iPod and Microsoft Zune, or burned to CD as many times as you like. Wal-Mart has also begun selling complete downloadable albums (*est. $9.22) in MP3 format.

Offering music in an unprotected format is not unique (eMusic has been doing it legally for years). What is different here is that major labels, such as Universal and EMI, and major artists, such as Bon Jovi, are being distributed in this format. Time will tell if this is a sea change in how music is distributed over the Internet -- as some critics predict -- or if this is an unusual situation leveraged by Wal-Mart's massive brick-and-mortar operations.

The Zune Marketplace is a download service designed for use with the Zune player, Microsoft's ambitious challenger to Apple's iPod. The late James Kim at CNet.com says that the Zune Marketplace "matches the Zune in simplicity, functionality, performance, and potential," but he -- and virtually everyone else who's weighed in -- wonders at Microsoft's wisdom in gearing the site exclusively to Zune hardware. It's one thing for Apple to design a site pegged to the wildly popular iPod, but it's another thing entirely for Microsoft to do the same with the heretofore far less successful Zune player. At least an unlimited monthly subscription plan is available (*est. $15). Single-song downloads can be purchased using "Zune Points," a convoluted system that does little but obscure the actual cost of a download (*est. 99¢).