With streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, accessing your favorite albums and songs is affordable and easy. But there’s a few drawbacks: the rights holders can remove your favorite tracks at any moment, plus it doesn’t help to finance anyone but the labels and the really big artists. However, there are a number of ways to support your favorite bands, and one of these is to invest in physical media like vinyl or CDs, or you can go completely digital and yet still claim permanent ownership. It’s also better for the environment, probably. Here are the best ways to buy digital music and keep it forever.
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Why should I buy digital music?
Buying digital music, such as MP3s or FLAC files, has more benefits than you realize. Once you purchase music, it can be stored on any device, meaning it’s yours to keep forever. Digital music stores also offer instant downloads after your purchase, and there’s often a choice between different formats, such as MP3s or AAC to save space and money or lossless FLAC, ALAC or WAV versions for a noticeable increase in quality. (They usually cost the same as MP3s.) If you prefer physical media and aren’t too bothered about storage, you can buy CDs and rip the music the old-fashioned way.
Whether you want to buy a single song or a whole album, we’ve rounded up the very best digital music stores out there. From iTunes and Amazon to Bandcamp and Qobuz, most of these stores offer apps for both Android and iOS, allowing you to easily listen to the music you purchase. Or you download them onto your phone, a computer or even a Walkman.
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Pros
- One of the biggest music catalogs of any service
- AAC files can be read by most music players and phones
Cons
- No lossless options
- Transition from iTunes to Apple Music has been awkward
Average cost per album: $10
Maximum bit rate: 256Kbps (AAC)
iTunes may no longer be the star of the company’s lineup, given that Apple Music is the focus right now, but it’s still one of the biggest digital marketplaces. iTunes still sets the standard for lossy music downloads, and its catalog should furnish all but your most obscure needs. iTunes doesn’t sell MP3s, it sells songs in its own AAC format, but they can be read by almost every modern player.
If you use MacOS Catalina or above you can access the marketplace from Music > iTunes Store. If you don’t have a Apple Music membership you can still listen to your iTunes purchases in the Music app, but if you want to download lossless files keep in mind you will need a subscription.
Pros
- One of the best ways to support the artists and labels that you love
- Sells physical albums that usually come with the digital version thrown in
Cons
- Not the best for pop music
Average cost per album: $10
Maximum bit rate: 320Kbps, Lossless (up to 24-bit)
With the support of many indie music labels, Bandcamp (now a part of Songtradr) is perhaps the best alternative to iTunes or Amazon, particularly if your tastes run to the more esoteric. The site enables you to download in whichever format you like (MP3, FLAC, Apple Lossless) and seemingly as many times as you like, without paying extra. The company now also labels the downloads which are in 24-bit quality making the site attractive to audiophiles. In addition, the site runs regular Bandcamp Friday events, which give 100% of the proceeds to the artist.
Pros
- Almost any music sold on Amazon is also available as MP3
- MP3 has the best format support
Cons
- Site has fairly poor interface that makes it difficult to browse
- Amazon really wants you to subscribe to its streaming service instead
- Some MP3 albums cost the same as the CD, which usually comes with the MP3
Average cost per album: $10
Maximum bit rate: 256Kbps
If you’re an Amazon Prime member, the Amazon Music streaming service makes a lot of sense. Yet, you don’t need to be a Prime Member to buy MP3s, or to download automatic rips of physical discs that you buy. The downside is that the digital music homepage is fairly drab — just a bunch of blocky buttons instead of cover art — and includes prominent links to Amazon Music Unlimited streaming.
Note that although Amazon scuttled its “digital locker” service that stores your MP3s, the MP3s you buy from Amazon will still be available for streaming and download.
Pros
- Qobuz’s combination of streaming and storefront is very compelling
- Great for classical music fans
Cons
- Catalog is not as comprehensive as its competitors, especially for indie
Average cost per album: $10 (CD quality), $15 (24-bit)
Maximum bit rate: Lossless (up to 24/192)
If you’re only interested in high-quality downloads — and by this I specifically mean 24-bit hi-res — the Qobuz download store is one of the cheapest. Like the Qobuz music streaming service, it caters to a wide variety of music genres, from pop to jazz to death metal to whatever you can think of. The site also offers sales on new releases including a recent Metallica promotion. If you’re an ultra-keen audiophile you can sign up for the $180-a-year Sublime streaming package, which also gives you discounts of up to 60% on Hi-Res downloads.
7Digital: This site has a wide selection of MP3s (and also FLAC files), but its front page hasn’t been updated for many years. Nevertheless, the site is stocked with new releases and offers competitive prices.
Bleep: If your tastes run to dance music with a sprinkling of indie, you’ll find a lot to love about this site.
Juno Download: This UK-based competitor to Bleep is also worth a look for more obscure EDM and indie titles, though its catalog typically costs more.
HD Tracks: Audiophile-focused site with downloads in CD quality and hi-res, and while its prices are typically higher than competitors, the store offers regular sales.
Despite the rise of streaming, millions of MP3s are still available for sale and the number of tracks is growing all of the time. All of the stores listed here enable you to either download songs legally to a computer or directly to your phone, and most offer dedicated apps for Android. Be aware that due to Apple restrictions, iOS users may not be able to buy music from apps other than iTunes on their phones, though browsers should work.
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Where can I buy music instead of Google Play?
Google Play Music stopped selling MP3s in late 2020 as the company moved to the streaming-only YouTube Music. All of the above services offer an excellent alternative to Google Play Music, and some such as Bandcamp offer higher-quality lossless for the same price. One feature that YouTube Music did carry over from Google Play Music is the music locker, which lets you upload your own music library.
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Which is better, MP3 or FLAC?
MP3 is known as a “lossy” format because it removes audio information in order to reduce file sizes, even at the maximum 320kbps rate. By comparison, FLAC is a “lossless” format because it doesn’t remove info and instead compresses music in a similar way to a ZIP file. As a result, a FLAC sounds better than an MP3, especially one that’s been ripped at a low 128-kbps bit rate.
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