Online Music

An online music store is an online business which sells audio files, usually music, on a per-song and/or subscription basis. It may be differentiated from music streaming services in that the music store offers the actual music file, while streaming services offer partial or full listening without actually owning the source file. However, music stores generally offer partial streaming previews, some even with full length.
* Many major online music stores only offer music in one audio format. Most labels will not allow their music to be sold in the common MP3 format that music players use. For the most part music that is sold in MP3 format is not sold at higher bit rate encoding.
* Most stores use Digital Rights Management, which limits use of music on certain devices. The restrictions vary between different services, and sometimes even between different songs from the same service.
* Geographical restrictions rule most of the stores at the request of record labels.
* Many online music stores sell music encoded in a lossy format, compared to an audio CD.
* Users do not have a "hard copy" of purchased music, such as a CD, for archiving (although music can usually be backed up to a CD or portable music player).
* Some stores do not provide artwork or liner notes.
* Stores have limited catalogs, because of copyright concerns.
* Some stores are not operating system independent and usually require the use of Microsoft Windows to use their software.