If you are DJ or Podcaster, you probably have to buy some music from time to time. Did you ever try to compare track prices of different platforms? The differences are huge, but direct comparison is sometimes tricky, as every platform has its own specifics.
In this article you can find little investigation and some suggestions where to buy music, if you want to save some money. For comparison I chose platforms that I have personal experience with. So we are going to compare these:
- Apple iTunes
- Juno Download
- Beatport
- Google Music
- Bandcamp
Important Notices
- different platforms are from different currencies, prices are in EUR, exchange rates were used as of today
- every platform has some specifics, so pros and cons are stated below the comparison table
- some platforms charge taxes, I don’t exactly know, if there is some relation with home country of user – my account is based in EU (Czech Republic)
- MP3 from all platforms should be at the 320 kb/s quality
- following prices refers to the track Dark Matter from L-Sides, but prices are equal for 99% of the new D&B music. For Bandcamp price is for the track I Will from Patife.
Purchase Price Comparison
Prices are stated for two different music formats – lossy compression like MP3 and lossless compression like WAV.
| iTunes | Juno Download | Beatport | Google Music | bandcamp | |
| MP3 or equal lossy compression file | 1,11 EUR | 1,31 EUR | 2,09 EUR (incl. 0,36 tax) | 0,58 EUR | 1,69 EUR (incl. 0,27 tax) |
| WAV or equal lossless compression file | x | 1,88 EUR | 2,88 EUR (incl. 0,5 tax) | x | 1,69 EUR (incl. 0,27 tax) |
So it seems, if you would like to buy MP3 you can buy in on Google almost 4 times cheaper then on Beatport, wow! Of course it is not black and white, at least it is worthy to think before you buy, price difference is huge. To be fair, some important information follows to describe some specifics of different platforms – price shouldn’t be the only criterion when you are buying music.
Platforms Specifics
So we can to say that some platform is the cheapest one and some is the most expensive. It is not easy like this, one needs to consider a lot of other aspects. Especially if you are pro user and searching for music is your daily job, the cheapest platform won’t be probably suitable for you. Find detailed list of Pros and Cons for every platform below.
iTunes
| Pros | Cons |
| Shop and streaming service | No WAV or other lossless format |
| Apple format M4A is slightly better then MP3 | ‘Buy all’ button is missing in Wishlist |
| Direct shopping from iTunes |
Juno Download
| Pros | Cons |
| Many ways how to browse, pick and buy music | Sometime some important releases are missing |
| More formats to choose | |
| Easy album cover download |
Beatport
| Pros | Cons |
| Many ways how to browse, pick and buy music | Expensive |
| More formats to choose | Some music exclusively just on Beatport 🙂 |
| Some music exclusively just on Beatport |
Google Music
| Pros | Cons |
| Shop and streaming service | No WAV or other lossless format |
| Cheap | Only whole release can be added to Wishlist |
| ‘Buy all’ button is missing in Wishlist |
Bandcamp
| Pros | Cons |
| More money for artist, less for distribution | Many releases are missing |
| FLAC format | |
| Release date usually earlier then everywhere else |
