Since Shawn Fanning created Napster while he was a student at Northeastern University in 1999, Boston has been a nexus of digital music downloading.
But that world has changed dramatically. Napster still exists, but downloading songs has gone from the shadows to a billion-dollar legitimate business, completely overtaking the compact disc.
Where should you turn to get your favorite tunes? The Globe looked into five of the biggest digital music services out there: Apple’s iTunes Store, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody, Wal-Mart MP3 Music Downloads, and the new Napster.
If you’re part of the legion of iPod and iPhone users, you probably already know about the iTunes Store. Did you know, however, that Amazon’s MP3 download service, which has great deals if you want to buy full albums, integrates with iTunes and Windows Media Player? That means it works seamlessly with your iPod or Microsoft Zune. If you find yourself listening to music at the computer a lot, you could also look into RealNetworks’ Rhapsody service, which offers unlimited live music streaming for $12.99 per month as well as inidual songs in MP3 format, mostly 99 cents each.
Napster, which is owned by Best Buy, is the polar opposite of its peer-to-peer roots. Like Rhapsody, users can listen to unlimited streaming songs for a monthly fee. The difference with Napster is that Best Buy tries to get users to commit to a full year of service by offering discounts and free MP3 downloading credits if you sign up for 3 months or a year of service.
The difference between streaming and downloading is simple. A streaming song is like listening to a song on the radio - …
Read the original article at Boston
