Entered CNET Catalog: 07/30/2003
SKU: CNETBUYMUSIC.CO
Manufacturer: BuyMusic.com
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 09/11/2003
Months before iTunes for Windows came out, upstart Buy.com copied Apple's winning approach to selling music à la carte--right down to mimicking its goofy ad campaign--and brought it to PCs. Sure, you can shop for tunes, and you have some say in how you use them, but pricing and usage inconsistencies mar the experience. Plus, the tracks won't sound quite as good as those you'll find through iTunes.
Users access BuyMusic through Internet Explorer 5.0 and higher, rather than via a dedicated application the way iTunes does; fortunately, browsing, searching, and purchasing are still mercifully easy. Unlike music subscription services, BuyMusic doesn't make you fork over any cash up front or even sign up in order to browse the catalog or search for music. You pay on a per-download basis, and there are no hidden costs for burning tunes.
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| Browsing for tunes is easy and addictive, but prices vary, so keep your eye on the bottom line. |
The situation with portable-device compatibility is even more troubling. Although BuyMusic claims that its secure WMA files can be transferred to select portable devices (the way iTunes Music Store customers can listen to purchased music using an iPod), the files we downloaded would not play on portables, even the Creative Zen NX, which BuyMusic recommends. Company representatives would not comment on the problem. On the plus side, starting in April 2004, BuyMusic will offer up to 10 free downloads to customers who purchase a Rio Karma, Nitrus, Cali, Chiba, or Fuse, so if you have one of these players, rest assured that you'll be able to listen to BuyMusic tracks.
You'll find a decent selection of music from all of the major labels (at the time of this writing, BuyMusic had cataloged more than 300,000 songs), but just like Apple's service, licensing difficulties prevent the inclusion of some big names. Apple secured uniform licenses with all of the labels, but BuyMusic must abide by each label's rules. Some songs can be burned to CD just once, while others can be burned an unlimited number of times.
While BuyMusic does a good job of making the process as seamless as possible, it still can't hold a candle to iTunes' ease of use. Plus, once you've downloaded your songs, they won't sound as good as what you'll find through iTunes; BuyMusic offers 128Kbps WMA files, rather than Apple's sweeter-sounding AACs. On the other hand, the service has improved considerably since we first tested it in July. Downloads are now lightning-fast, although their speed also depends on your connection. And while we could do without the extra download manager utility, at least it's not intrusive.
We give Buy.com props for breaking into the Windows market before Apple, but its service is hampered by some of the same usage-rules problems that plague subscription services. In other words, you may be able to find a great deal on a tune, but good luck keeping track of how you can use it.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
2/10
Sucks not an mp3!!!
Pros: They take your money fast!
Cons: Not an mp3, wma protected file
User Rating: 
8/10
You actually own the song.
Pros: This service is great. You actually download the song onto your hard drive, and are able to burn it whenever you want to. And you get to use the CD burning software that you want to. With most tracks you are allowed to burn the song anywhere from three to
Cons: Some artists only allow you to buy the whole album for about ten bucks...cough Metallica...cough Madonna.
User Rating: 
6/10
RIAA's Best Friend
Pros: Nothing spectacular
Cons: Rights and prices differ. I put my songs on to one computer, but when my drive had to be ghosted, Buymusic refused to reissue my licenses as their system thought I had put my songs on to another machine (even though it was the same machine--one song I ha
User Rating: 
7/10
BuyMusic.com is great if....
Pros: Buymusic is a good deal if you are a windows user and have a wma player.most of the song they sell now , are 79 cents. although most song have diffrent restrictions, like how many computer it can be uploaded to , and how many times it can be burned, on av
Cons: Poorly designed website,inconsistent prices but most are .79cents, just keep a eye on the bottom line,and some players arent supported.
User Rating: 
1/10
A poor quality, faceless sham
Pros: N/A
Cons: Customer support is non-existant. If there is an error downloading a song, they will make you pay for it regardless. And then you may email them to assure that you are not going to be charged twice for the same song. They will send you a canned respons
User Rating: 1/10
Tried It, Hated It
Pros: Fairly easy to use
Cons: Only 50% of what I bought is useable or downloaded at all. I have exchanged multiple e-mails to their customer service since you will never find a real person to help you and help would be the last word I would use to describe what I got. This was my firs
User Rating: 2/10
No response from support after 4 days
Pros:
Cons: I ordered a gift certficate to be delivered to someone and it has never arrived. I contacted support via email 4 days ago and haven't heard anything back. There's no phone number to call. I've sent them 3 emails and still nothing. Don't give these guys yo
User Rating: 
5/10
Yes it's not iTunes. So?
Pros: I don't get it. Yes it's a rip-off of iTunes. BFD. The fact is that as a PC user, I can't use iTunes. So why am I offended if someone offers a service that is nearly the same, but that I can actually use? Sure, it'd be great if all the tracks were th
Cons:
User Rating: 1/10
this is a Trojan with an agreement
Pros:
Cons: Build on top of Windows Media 9,this music service gathers information on all your music files and reports back for marketing.
User Rating: 
3/10
I hate licenses!
Pros: Good response time from customer support. Too bad it was necessary to test it as many times as I did.
Cons: This license thing is absolute garbage. 10% of my downloads didn't work because the license needed to play it could not be found. Support was good enough to reset the license for me, but it still didn't work on the second attempt. After they told me they
User Rating: 5/10
Brings "RIPPING" to a new level!
Pros: I've downloaded and burned about 12 songs for my daughter and at a buck a pop, it's not bad. Actually, it went quite smoothly UNTIL...
Cons: One of my licenses wouldn't download. Customer support is a joke. As with so many others, they responded a couple of times then they just went away without providing a license and they refused to refund my money. Like others, I was told the problem would
User Rating: 
4/10
Only can download to one computer??!!
Pros: Very fast and easy to find what you are looking for.
Cons: Copyrights triumph again. When downloading music in some cases you can only put the WMA file on one computer. In other words when you upgrade your computer the music you paid for is gone.... as in bye-bye. Be sure that you don't spend much money here b
User Rating: 8/10
Inexpensive, easy to use, environmentally friendly, fun!
Pros: I've used Buy Music and it rocks! I was able to find most of the music I wanted. Some of the songs were, in fact, only $0.79. The site clearly indicated how many computers I could download to, and how many burns and transfers I would get with each song
Cons: Would like to see a larger selection.
User Rating: 1/10
Horrible customer support...
Pros: None...
Cons: The service is really a no no from get go. Broken and non-functional site features, such as search. Maybe if the site were not made with ASP, it'd be doing a lot better job. If you read the fine printes (user agreements, privacy policy, etc.), you will
User Rating: 2/10
A major dissappointment
Pros: It is for Windows. That's about it.
Cons: They SELL YOUR PRIVACY INFORMATION so expect to get spammed to death or get calls from solicitors. You do NOT own the music you pay for: you lease or license it. The music is tied to the one PC with which you download it. Once your PC fails or is sold o
User Rating: 3/10
Privacy Policy is absolutely scary!
Pros:
Cons: Their privacy policy alone is reason enoufgh to never do business with buymusic.com or their parent buy.com. "Except as limited below, we reserve the right to use or disclose your personally identifiable information for business reasons in whatever manne
User Rating: 8/10
Much improved user experience - Huge selection!
Pros: Great selection Easy to Use Finally a choice for PC Users
Cons: Varying usage rights from different labels.
User Rating: 8/10
quick and easy to use
Pros: very smooth down load
Cons: Record company costing is still too high, and distribution standards need to be established. All this, 1 computer, 3 burns, unlimited burns.. Come on guys play ball..
User Rating: 
10/10
Loved it!
Pros: Instead of buying a CD at $15-$18 for 1 or 2 songs you like, pay $15 for 15 songs you want! Easy search, easy checkout, and streamlined downloading..I am telling everyone!
Cons: I would like more songs!
User Rating: 7/10
Mac Users need to get a life
Pros: Downloads are easy to use and it works with PC's
Cons: Organization of tracks on the site could be a bit better, but on the whole it isn't a bad first swipe. When I was able to find the tracks I wanted to download, I was able to download them and move them freely between my PC and my PDA or Mini Disk. As
User Rating: 5/10
Sound Quality Seems to S#ck
Pros: Easy to use.
Cons: Not much I would like to download, and the one song I did get sounded terrible. I do not know why.
User Rating: 1/10
Horrible, tricky service
Pros: Use iTunes for Windows when it comes out. See Cons.
Cons: This service has very few things in its favor. For one, the privacy policy declares, underlined: "Except as otherwise limited in this Policy, we may disclose, sell, trade, or rent your Personally Identifiable Information to others without your consent." S
User Rating: 5/10
Decent interface, but failed implementation
Pros: If you primarily listen to music on your computer, then you can get it legally.
Cons: The uneven and restrictive digital rights management is a fatal flaw. While I found the service clear enough about what rights I get with each song, this is something I must remember song-by-song or I will sometimes be surprised later when I can't move a
User Rating: 3/10
Record Companies Still Don't Get It
Pros: $.99 music and $9.99 albums.
Cons: .wma files and their accursed DRM. DRM makes me feel like a criminal even though I never use P2P networks. 300,000 songs is very small when you consider how many you can get on P2P. Not all music is error-free. I downloaded a song and couldn't burn it
User Rating: 1/10
Go back to the drawing board
Pros: None. Don't get suckered in.
Cons: Downloads have same old restrictive DRM, they just took away the subscription part. Searching and browsing for files is super slow since it only gives you a page at a time one track at a time in HTML. If you buy a whole album, you manually download one
User Rating: 5/10
Poor Selection
Pros: Fast website and price. That's about it.
Cons: The selection on this site is horrible. Its like ordering CDs from one of those CD warehouses...the music has been out so long, you forgot who performed it or have heard it so many times, its pointless to buy it.
User Rating: 2/10
.wma not .Mp3, FTP type downloads and suspect "security" activation after download
Pros:
Cons: a little deceptive with the 0.79 cent thing. Most single song files arent. Interface and overall ease of use falls flat on it's face when compared to Itunes/Apple music store combo. Apple's way of downloading and organizing your music to your specified lo
User Rating: 1/10
iTunes for Windows Mulligan
Pros: Provides a great example of what not to do for other would-be iTunes competitors
Cons: 1) Misleading advertising: buymusic.com implies you own the music when the reality of it is it's not transferrable from your hard drive. 2) Songs from $0.79, while the reality is most are not $0.79. 3) Inconsistent digital rights management 4) Download
User Rating: 2/10
Total Sham
Pros: None
Cons: Maybe 20% of all the songs are $0.79 while the rest can range to $1.19+. Also, beacuse each song has it's own copying limitations, you will never know if the next album you are burning will have all the songs you choose. As if this was not bad enough, the
