You can purchase songs and entire albums from several sources including iTunes, Amazon.com and Google Play. All are great, but you should recognise that there are differences between these formats:

The Amazon Store allows you to purchase physical CDsas well as downloadable files. The downloads are in MP3 form and and some think are of a higher quality audio than those from iTunes. As many of you know, iTunes files are highly compressed, which is perfectly adequate for listening on teeny, tiny earbuds, but not exactly pristine when heard over higher quality speakers. The MP3 versions are more like (but not quite) CD quality so they’ll sound better on your fancy home theatre system.

Most of you know that iTunes files are not portable—they must be purchased using the iTunes application and contain copy protection that makes it difficult to (legitimately) move songs onto devices besides iPod®. Purchasing Amazon MP3s avoids this hassle as these files are unencrypted, so you can use them in any audio device.

So, which is right for you?

Well, if you have an iPod or iPhone®, iTunes is still the ultimate in convenience. If you are looking for higher quality audio, or have another type of playback device, choose Amazon. They both represent great value for money, so convenience is probably the biggest deciding factor. Whichever you choose? Either way is the only way, baby!