Downloading music has never been easier and the competition between music services is fierce. That means better prices for you.

Now that you’ve got that new mp3 player, it’s time to fill it up. Music download services offer millions of titles that cover every genre of music.  Not sure what songs you want? Go with an unlimited music service and download everything or try iTunes and get recommendations with every artist or song title search.

Not sure if that’s really the song you were looking for? Most services let you listen to a song before you buy it. You can "preview" songs and make sure it's really the song or mix you want.

A Low-cost Option

Since 1999 when Napster came onto the internet scene, the entire music industry has changed.  The old way of purchasing music, the CD, has nearly become obsolete.  One of the biggest reasons for this shift is the low-cost option that music download services present for music fans.

It used to be that music lovers would hear a song on the radio or TV, go to the music store, and then purchase a CD.  The problem was that many buyers only wanted one song from an artist but there was no option to purchase tracks separately. Purchasing individual tracks online became very appealing when compared to the price of a whole album that may come with unwanted songs.

How they work

Most music services have their own software that is free to download. This software can be found on a service’s website and is usually downloaded after signing up. 

Once the software is downloaded and installed you can search for music or artists with the search bar, usually located in the top right-hand corner of the screen.

With unlimited music services you can download a song by simply double-clicking the desired title on the screen. Pay-per-song services will have a “buy” button which you must press to download a title and a pop up will ask you to confirm the purchase.

Unlimited Services

Services like Napster and Rhapsody offer “unlimited” music downloads. These services have a monthly fee that is paid with a credit card at sign up and is automatically charged at the beginning of each month until you cancel the service.

These companies allow you to download as many songs as you want, whenever you want. They are the cheapest option for those who wish to build up a large music collection quickly or those who have a large capacity mp3 player. 

If you want to use one of these services for an mp3 player you should sign up with the “to go” option.  This allows songs to be uploaded onto digital players rather than just playing them on your computer.

Napster Free Trial   Rhapsody Trial

These services also offer free trials so you can get familiar with them before getting locked into anything.

Pay-per-song Services

These services charge a separate fee for each song that is downloaded, usually around 99 cents per song. This can be much more expensive than unlimited services if you want a lot of music, but are great if you only want a few at a time. Songs downloaded from these services can easily be burned to CDs or used on a portable player.

The best-known of these services is iTunes. They’re software can be downloaded here.

Other Types of Music Services

Some services have a monthly fee for a set number of downloads. Songs end up costing much less than 99 cents but there is a cap on how many songs may be downloaded each month.

Emusic is the largest of these download services. Emusic offers 25 free music downloads to anyone who tries out their service and you can keep the 25 songs even if you decide to quit before the free trial is up.

Get 25 Free Music Downloads at Emusic