Digital Music: Range

Obviously if you’re going to be buying your music digitally on a regular basis, you’ll want the shop you use to have a decent range. While it is possible go different stores for different releases, it is much nicer if one store gives you everything you need. Now digital stores have a habit of quoting big numbers in order make their range seem impressive, but I guarantee you, numbers mean nothing. What really matters is the quality of their collection. The only real way to judge a stores range is to jump in and try it out. Search for favourite albums and ones you’re thinking about buying and see how it fares. Different stores will cater better to different people.

Best Performer: iTunes

Being the biggest digital music store, iTunes has the distinct advantage of being the place where every band wants their music sold. As a result, the iTunes music catalogue is by far the best. In fact, barring a few exceptions, the iTunes store could serve most people’s music needs completely. Not many other digital (or indeed physical) music stores could argue this. There is a catch, however. Most iTunes music is protected and the iTunes Plus range (unprotected) is no where near as impressive.

Runner Up: eMusic

Being a largely independent music store, eMusic is missing plenty of music. If you’re looking for something from the top 40, this certainly isn’t the place to look. But it more than makes up for this with all the music you won’t find anywhere else. And I’m not talking about b-grade independent music that nobody cares about. I mean all the brilliant indie music that is so frequently swooned about by bloggers such as myself.

What Is Needed: More!

It sounds simple and it is. Digital music won’t become a viable option until sellers build up a collection that offers all the music you could possibly want. iTunes is mighty close, but many of the competitors are lagging significantly.