TechTV Pits The iTMS Against BuyMusic, Gives A Nod To The iTMS

T echTVis James Kim has taken a look at the iTunes Music Store and the new BuyMusic (BM) service, comparing and contrasting some of the features of the two services and how they relate to other music services.

While the article specifically states that one canit be recommended over the other due to the current platform dependence of each, more of the comparisons ended in favor of the iTMS. That said, the intro to the article calls BM "reliable," which is in stark contrast to the many negative reviews of the service that have found inconsistencies in pricing, missing tracks, and problems such as not being able to load downloaded songs onto portable MP3 players that were supposedly supported by BuyMusic. From TechTV:

In just a few months Appleis heralded iTunes Music Store unloaded more than 6.5 million songs, convincing the music biz as well as fans that hawking music online makes sound business sense. Music Store has lots of good things going for it, but it wonit be ready for Windows until the end of 2003. Recording execs salivate at the thought of locking up the Windows market, which dwarfs the Mac market by nearly 20 to 1 users.

The recently launched BuyMusic.com takes advantage of a gigantic Windows market ripe for a decent pay-per-download store with no monthly subscription fees. Unfortunately, BuyMusic has some of the same restrictions that plague many subscription services.

Digital music expert Kevin Arnold, founder of the Independent Online Distribution Alliance, says BuyMusic.com lacks Appleis seamless, one-price-fits-all approach to downloading music. But thatis the nature of Windows, a multitude of platforms and very few licensing rules. Apple, he says, is the epitome of refinement.

"I would compare Windows to the wild, wild, west," says Arnold. "And Apple is like a gated community."

If iTunes Music Store offers the same ease of use, seamless integration with hardware players, and freedom of ownership when it finally launches for Windows, BuyMusic will look and feel dated.

You can read the full article at TechTVis Web site. Thanks to Observers Eric Estrada for pointing us to the TechTV piece.