I own an iPod. I get most of my music by buying it at a local independent record store. For the odd item or single, I've downloaded songs via iTunes. I like indie music mostly, but also classical, jazz, blues, pop and goth/new wave, among other genres.

Today, for the first time, I browsed the eMusic site. To my surprise, it was well-organized, seems to have a deep catalogue of indie artists in many genres, the songs are cheap to download (.25 cents a song after a free trial period), and eMusic's MP3s can be played on the iPod. I was impressed.

What is your favorite digital music service, and why?

I prefer buying albums for the liner notes and lyric sheets, when they're any good, and this is an area where the digital services are sorely lacking. Albums on iTunes occassionally come with a digital booklet, but it's frustratingly rare. So – as a related question -- do any of you avoid digital music services because they don't deliver booklets/liner notes/lyric sheets with the albums? Thanks.

I've been using Rhapsody pretty much since it was introduced and it's proven to be a useful tool in sampling a wide variety of new music over the years. As far as subscription services go, their selection is probably as comprehensive as you're going to find right now. As with anything else, it takes time to get used to their software and interface. I'm also a bit wary of recommending their To Go option, which lets you take subscribed tracks with you on a DRM enabled player, unless you're really patient and willing to jump through a fair number of software hoops. It's been pretty stable lately, but there was a software upgrade that hosed my account for weeks. In all, I tend to prefer the subscription model for sampling purposes since if I like an album enough to buy, I'm going to get a physical copy of the CD.

As to liner notes and lyric sheets, I think you're pretty well out of luck with the subscription services. This isn't so much an issue for me with many pop and rock new releases since a lot of that information is available on band, label and fan websites, but if you're getting into jazz and classical or checking out more elaborate pop and rock reissues, you're often missing out on a lot of valuable knowledge without the notes.

I think classical is worst served by the subscription services. A lot of really essential performances a absent from the services I've checked out (including Virgin). It's easy to find most of the canon and beyond, but a lot of the performances are substandard and won't serve as a very good introduction to a lot of wonderful music.

Finally, if you've not checked out la la yet, you might give it a looksee. For people who like to have the physical CD more than a download, it provides an interesting, Netflix-like alternative to the subscription services and online music stores. I'm closing in on one hundred trades since June and have been extremely happy with the service so far.

Now Playing: "Saving Grace" Tom Petty Highway Companion

quote:

Originally posted by LinnTate:


As to liner notes and lyric sheets, I think you're pretty well out of luck with the subscription services. This isn't so much an issue for me with many pop and rock new releases since a lot of that information is available on band, label and fan websites, but if you're getting into jazz and classical or checking out more elaborate pop and rock reissues, you're often missing out on a lot of valuable knowledge without the notes.

I think classical is worst served by the subscription services. A lot of really essential performances a absent from the services I've checked out (including Virgin). It's easy to find most of the canon and beyond, but a lot of the performances are substandard and won't serve as a very good introduction to a lot of wonderful music.

That's a shame about the lack of booklets. I guess providing booklets and liner notes only with the physical discs is one way the labels hope to persuade people to buy the disc instead of the digital songs (where, I assume, the label's profit margin is far smaller). If that's the labels' rationale, I think it's short-sighted. I think more people will buy music online, and for a higher unit price, if they get the booklet and liner notes.

Incidentally, the eMusic online magazine had a feature on "sexy classical music," or something like that. It included some outstanding albums, and the feature is one of the things that's drawing me toward eMusic. Indeed, the passion of the people that write for eMusic is infectious, and is also one of the things drawing me toward the service.

But I'll look into La-La, too.