iTunes store not the only game in town

The iTunes store is, rightfully, a powerhouse in the for-pay digital download world. Friends have said to me, after their first experience purchasing something via the iTunes store, "That was almost TOO easy. I could get myself in real trouble with this." It's easy to use, has a huge selection, and works very very well with the Mac OS and with iPods, iPhones, etc.

Don't overlook the Amazon music store, however, for digital downloads. It's got a lot to recommend it as well. For one thing, some albums are a buck cheaper. OK, so it's just a buck. But, and this is a big one for me, it seems to have more content in the 256k DRM-free format than iTunes.

For example, the new Ray Davies's album, Working Man's Cafe, is available as protected 128k mp3s from iTunes - but I'd rather have the 256k, non-protected mp3s from Amazon . So, it might be worth while to check out both sources next time you've got a digital music purchase in mind. I don't see any reason NOT to go with Amazon, if the price is right.

To purchase from the Amazon store, you of course have to have an Amazon account. Browse to the mp3 store, and when you buy something you'll be prompted to download and install the Amazon Downloader, which is really a fast and simple process. After your click purchase and it verifies your card, the Downloader just starts, well, downloading. It's fast, too - by the time I told my screen capture utility where to save the image you see below, it had already downloaded most of Bell X1's new album, Flock.



And to add insult to injury to Apple, it's smart enough to dump your new album into itunes.

Ray's new album sounds pretty good - especially for a buck less and twice the bitrate!