Purchase Music Services

[Jaymon]

I've become disappointed with Amazon music since their recent changes. So I am searching for a new place to purchase music. Specifically, I want to buy single or album Mp3, which I can then download and copy off to the device of my choice.

But, google no longer sells music, its only streaming via youtube music. And I think apple music only has that Apple format, and also I don't have any apple devices. I've been having trouble finding any other major options for buying music.

Do ya'll have any recomendations?

[hitbyambulance]

bandcamp is the closest 'download purchase store' i use. i otherwise get my free MP3s through Freegal (through my local libraries) and... i still buy CDs, mostly.

[stessier]

i still buy CDs, mostly.

Same - I buy and rip them.

[Hipolito]

I've become disappointed with Amazon music since their recent changes.

What changes happened at Amazon Music? I haven't bought MP3s in a while but that's where I usually get them, and occasionally from Bandcamp.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I've become disappointed with Amazon music since their recent changes.

What changes happened at Amazon Music? I haven't bought MP3s in a while but that's where I usually get them, and occasionally from Bandcamp.

Prime members complain that Amazon Music is 'unusable' and in 'shambles' after the ability to select individual songs was removed unless they pay $9 a month

Amazon Music recently added 98 million songs to the streaming platform's music library free of charge with no ads for Prime members. But some users are not happy.

Before the music catalog expansion, Amazon Prime members could access up to two million songs to stream through a simple search, and download songs for offline listening with no internet service. But with the new update, the music can only be played in shuffle mode, which means that users cannot play individual songs from artists, albums, or playlists. To do so, users must spend $9 a month extra on Amazon Music Unlimited.

Such changes are riling up some Amazon music users who are going to Twitter to complain over the loss of certain features.

One user tweeted at Amazon Help asking for a partial refund because she lost all of the music that she purchased prior to the update. "Your music app is now unusable," she tweeted. "I might as well turn on the radio."

Another user tweeted that the platform is in "absolute shambles" after his daughter's Amazon echo smart speaker started playing random songs on shuffle.

Amazon Music users are also expressing their frustrations over LinkedIn. Some said that their playlists have disappeared and that they cannot replay songs. Others were so frustrated with the update that they said they dropped Amazon Music entirely to stream music on rival platforms like Spotify and Pandora.

An Amazon spokesperson didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment ahead of publication.

Also…

Amazon Music Gets Another Price Hike Next Month

Amazon Prime Music was once a great option for those trying to enjoy tunes from an Alexa speaker, but it’s slowly getting worse. After two price increases to Amazon Music Unlimited in 2022, prices are going up again in February.

Announced in an Amazon FAQ page, starting February 21st, 2023, users will have to pay $10.99 per month to access Music Unlimited. That’s a $1 increase from the current $9.99 price, and it was only $7.99 during the first half of last year.

To make matters worse, if you’re enjoying Music Unlimited on a discounted trial or promotion offer, Amazon will only honor that price for one month. The new pricing will go into effect on the next billing cycle.

And while Prime Music is still bundled with an Amazon Prime membership, it only features “shuffle and play,” meaning you can’t listen to a song anytime, anywhere. It shuffles Amazon’s expansive list of nearly 100 million songs. That change started happening in November, and many users are just beginning to notice Prime Music isn’t playing the songs they want.

Those who want to listen to music on-demand must pay extra for Amazon Music Unlimited, which will soon be $10.99 per month for an individual plan. The Amazon Music Unlimited Student Plan will also jump from $4.99 to $5.99 monthly.

I’m not sure what’s happening at Amazon, but the company has mentioned higher operating costs lately. A yearly membership to Prime received a huge price increase in February last year. It’s shutting down the fantastic Amazon Smile charity platform and just announced a slew of layoffs.

So, if you’re a Prime member who casually listens to music occasionally and you’re ok with Amazon shuffling the songs for you, this is no biggie. However, if you want unlimited access to Amazon’s nearly 100-million song catalog and HD streaming, it’ll cost you even more.

[YellowKing]

I dropped Amazon Music Unlimited last month and switched to Spotify. Amazon's algorithm sucks by comparison, and I got so frustrated with their damn "Car Mode" turning on even if I was just walking around with my phone that it was the last straw. I know it's not a help with the purchase of music question, but I've been much happier from a streaming standpoint with Spotify.

[JCC]

Yeah Spotify is excellent. There are annoyances at times where some of the obscure stuff I want to hear comes and goes, but I love it.

As an aside, if you are looking for a place to buy mp3s, you can do that on Amazon too from just the regular store. When the new Arena album refused to show up on Spotify (which I still find strange given their other albums are there) I ended up just buying the mp3s on Amazon and uploading the album to the Spotify app on my phone.

[pr0ner]

I've become disappointed with Amazon music since their recent changes. So I am searching for a new place to purchase music. Specifically, I want to buy single or album Mp3, which I can then download and copy off to the device of my choice.

But, google no longer sells music, its only streaming via youtube music. And I think apple music only has that Apple format, and also I don't have any apple devices. I've been having trouble finding any other major options for buying music.

Do ya'll have any recomendations?

I don't really buy MP3s anymore, but people I know who still buy digital music like Qobuz and 7Digital for lossless quality stuff.

[LawBeefaroni]

Bandcamp for buying. Mostly vinyl, some CDs, but all purchases come with digital download.


I have Napster (former Rhapsody). It's constantly changing hands (currently Algorand?) but I use it all the time so sticking with it. I absolutely need the ability to pick my own playlists, play albums, etc.

[LordMortis]

I haven't bought new music in a while, but when I did/do it's on CD and then I rip the music still. From there I port it to phone if I want it there using VNC.

[Carpet_pissr]

What’s the advantage of buying from Bandcamp, if any? I’m not familiar.

Also looking for a new source since Amazon Music pissed me off mightily.

[LawBeefaroni]

What’s the advantage of buying from Bandcamp, if any? I’m not familiar.

Also looking for a new source since Amazon Music pissed me off mightily.

Less of a cut to the middleman, the artist gets more of your money. Lower barrier to entry as well, so you get a lot more obscure/small acts and can support them directly.

When a fan buys something on Bandcamp, an average of 82% of the money goes to the artist or their label — typically in 24-48 hours — and the remainder covers our revenue share and payment processor fees.

Since we only make money when artists make a lot more money, our interests remain aligned with those of our community. It’s a straightforward, artists-first approach, and one we’re happy to say works well. Fans have paid artists and their labels $1.06 billion using Bandcamp. In the past year alone, they’ve spent $186 million on 14.5 million digital albums, 8.4 million tracks, 1.8 million vinyl records, 800,000 CDs, 400,000 cassettes, and 100,000 t-shirts.

Plus any purchase on Bandcamp includes digital download including FLAC. Easier to manage than various download codes, etc.

Very intuitive but non-algo discovery that doesn't try to push shit on you.

[LawBeefaroni]

Oh, and you can listen to full songs/albums before purchasing.

[Jaymon]

The changes to amazon being unable to listen to individual songs was pushed all the way down to include being unable to preview individual songs. You can no longer get a 30 second clip of a song. meaning, if you are unsure its the right version, or if its the remake version or whatever, then you are shit out of luck.


I've been checking out bandcamp. Its a mixed bag it seems. Some of what I am looking for is there, some of the artists are there with only limited tacks, and some, especially the bigger artists, just are not listed.

I'll look at the other sites mentioned, thank you.

[Rumpy]

10 years ago, I probably would have said Emusic, but not now. Plus I ended up losing most of my music bought on there, thought I could log in and get it back but sadly everything I had on there was gone, either they had wiped the account history or the licenses they once had expired. Either way it was all gone.

[Carpet_pissr]

SiriusXM is pretty much taking the place of a paid music sub for me, and I think it’s fantastic for what it is (not to mention the phenomenal sound quality).

I do occasionally like playlists and specific albums, though, so I will probably move to Apple Music (since I have CarPlay, and it plays nice with that of course) or Spotify.

Even if Amazon reverted back to their model before this one, I wouldn’t go back just on principle. They can eat a bag of dicks.

[Madmarcus]

So I am searching for a new place to purchase music. Specifically, I want to buy single or album Mp3, which I can then download and copy off to the device of my choice.

I thought I was basically the only person who still did this!

Amazon was my default for a while but I don't really recommend them. Bandcamp has exactly the problems you mention. It's great for current stuff but if I find I want to get older stuff from well known artists it is hit or miss at best. I'm almost ready to see if libraries still have CDs that I could rip.