How to Choose a Music Download Service

By now you've hopefully decided if not which music download service to join, at least what type of service you desire - P2P, direct database download, or other.

On this handy website of ours you'll find plenty of reviews of various music download sites in all categories. Probably the best way to help you through the potentially arduous process of choosing which music download site or sites to join is to take you by the hand through the Template we've used here to review these sites.

By evaluating each service you're considering according to the following criteria, you should have no trouble finding your best choice for adding the music you love to your collection.

Music Sources
Not a rated category, this will tell you what kind of service the site offers (ie. P2P, direct database download, subscription service, etc.)

System Compatibility (out of 10)
Is the music download service and its associated software compatible with your computer? If not, you should probably move on (duh). We've rated system compatibility based on 10 points. The closer to 10, the more platforms - Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and/or XP; Mac OS X and/or Classic; Linux; AOL - can run the software. The closer to 0, the more specialized the service.

Content (out of 25)
How many songs are available for download? Are they all music files or are some of them movies, games, etc? Are there only certain genres? Are the files only available in a particular format (other than MP3)? Make sure the site you use has the music you want in a file format your computer can read. The closer to 25 the score, the wider the selection; the closer to 0, the narrower.

Tech Support/Customer Service (out of 15)
Some new users may find certain aspects of digital music downloading and P2P file sharing to be confusing (though it's really quite simple - don't you worry). Some computers may have trouble with certain software programs for any number of reasons. There could be other programs on your computer causing some sort of interference. Your OS may need an upgrade. Any number of things.

An FAQ, no matter how good, can't cover everything. Wouldn't it be nice to know you can reach unlimited free technical support from a real, live human being any time of day or night any day of the week? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to reach them through email, toll-free phone, fax, or live web chat at your whim? This section will tell you what kind of tech support and customer service you can expect to find from a given site. The closer to 15 the score, the more accessible, friendly and knowledgeable the support; the closer to 0, the less so.

Tutorials (out of 15)
Though most of these services, whether P2P or direct database download, are incredibly intuitive, it doesn't hurt to get a bit of guidance in operating them optimally. Some sites may call them tutorials, some may call them user guides; whatever the name, under this heading you'll learn whether the site you're considering has them, how many, and of what quality. The closer to 15 the score, the easier the given site makes it to do-it-yourself, the closer to 0 the more you're on your own.

Download Speed (out of 5)
Download speeds are influenced by a wide variety of factors, many of which will not be accounted for on a service's promotional sites, most of which, in fact, have little to do with the music download software itself, such as your internet connection, your computer's speed, how many programs you're running at once, how many users are online sharing a network at once, etc. The best a music download service can really tell you is an average range their download speeds should fall within, or the top speed a file can be downloaded under optimal conditions. That is why we're only rating this criteria out of 5. The higher the number, the faster the downloads.

Price (out of 25)
There are primarily 2 kinds of pay structures you'll find with these sites. Either it will be a subscription service with a monthly, annual, and/or lifetime fee for unlimited use (meaning unlimited downloads and, in some cases, unlimited technical support), or it will be a pay-for-play service where you pay for each individual song or album as you decide to download it. We tried our best to rate price structures here as they compare with other comparable services (pay-for-play to pay-for-play: subscription to subscription). A subscription service that offers a one-time fee or a lifetime subscription option rates higher than one that requires an annual fee. The closer to 25 our score, the better the bargain.

Refund Policy (out of 5)
Do they have one? But what if you're dissatisfied with the service? We'll tell you now, the pay-for-play services don't offer refunds on songs or albums downloaded. The subscription services may offer a 7 or 30 or 90 day money back guarantee but don't usually offer any refunds after that. A score of 5 means you have the most time to decide if you're happy with the service you chose. The closer to 0, the more it's too late.

Based on our ratings in these criteria, we've come up with a total score out of 100 possible points. Hopefully these reviews, and the above information, will help you decide where to hunt for the music you crave.