If you have no reason to ditch iTunes, that might convince you

[Jibbajabba]

Granted, there might be other albums cheaper on iTunes, but random searches showed the below - and annoyingly I checked some albums I recently bought and I could have saved £20 just over the last three weeks

Left - Google, Right - iTunes (downloads on Google are plain MP3s)

And yes, in Macrumors style I am sure I am opening one of those

But regardless - ALL albums I looked for are sometimes £4-7 cheaper on google.. Clearly shows that publisher don't like the 30% take-home from Apple.

 

[Beeplance]

That's if you actually buy music on iTunes. I download them from other sources.

I just want a place to classify my music and sync them over to my iOS devices. So, not reason to ditch iTunes for me.

 

[AppleMaster9]

That's if you actually buy music on iTunes. I download them from other sources.

Ahoy to ye too matie.

 

[cnguyen0320]

Don't buy music from iTunes. End of story. They never really have low prices on iTunes. Just buy somewhere else and import it into iTunes.

 

[Born Again]

Who buys iTunes

 

[entatlrg]

Don't buy music from iTunes. End of story. They never really have low prices on iTunes. Just buy somewhere else and import it into iTunes.

Where do you prefer to buy music? What software do you use to covert it to mp4?

 

[cnguyen0320]

Where do you prefer to buy music? What software do you use to covert it to mp4?

I don't buy music. I normally just use radio since my phone is 16gb and too small to carry a nice library anyway. But i'm saying you have loads of options of where to buy music. Amazon is a good place to look.

Also you can find this program called Any Video Converter. You can download off Cnet's download.com and it is free. There is a pro version but the free version will work fine for converting videos and music to many different formats.

 

[siiip5]

Sales prices are at the bottom of the reasons not to use itunes. The main reason is simply that the software is crap and always has been. I still use it because I have non jail broken ATV's as legacy hardware. Transitioning to Roku 2XS's and Plex. And I hate what Apple did to this latest iTunes update. Gotta love their thought process that if you don't give a TV show a category, well then we must not want it in iTunes. And of course it makes perfect sense that I would want some shows to have multiple seasons under one link like with the show Nikita, but other shows like Spartacus we want multiple links, one for each season. God I hate iTunes. Most user unfriendly POS ever designed.

 

[Jibbajabba]

buying from apple seems to be a mistake that i wont repeat!

Amen to that ...

 

[SlCKB0Y]

I don't buy music. I normally just use radio since my phone is 16gb and too small to carry a nice library anyway.

Along with all my apps and data I've easily got more than a thousand songs on my 16GB phone.... how many do you need?

 

[mackandproud]

I can't recall how much I've spent on itunes. It's under $5 though. And it may be zero. I've downloaded very few songs from itunes. 128 and 256 bitrates are a joke. I'd much rather get my music from a CD.

Most people don't care about quality though. They'll pirate a movie with 240 lines of resolution rather than pay $10 or $20 for a blu ray with perfect PQ. Same goes for music.

 

[hyteckit]

I wouldn't buy music from iTunes or Google Play.

I just buy my songs from Amazon and then use iTunes to manage it.

Usher Confessions:
Amazon: $2.99
Google: $5.99

Earth, Wind & Fire:
Amazon: $2.99
Google: $6.99


Rihanna Unapologetic:
Amazon: $9.99
Google: $11.49

 

[3bs]

I buy from iTunes cause I'm lazy.

 

[mattopotamus]

Where do you prefer to buy music? What software do you use to covert it to mp4?

I am pretty sure mp3's work...you only have to convert them to mp4's if you want to use them as a ringtone.

 

[daveathall]

I buy from iTunes cause I'm lazy.

Thst's my excuse as well, I just bought an album from the play store and TBH, it was easy to import it to iTunes. Will be doing the same in future.

 

[3bs]

Thst's my excuse as well, I just bought an album from the play store and TBH, it was easy to import it to iTunes. Will be doing the same in future.

Does Google have a place where you can re-download any of the music you've purchased? Is it linked to your account?

 

[paulsalter]

Does Google have a place where you can re-download any of the music you've purchased? Is it linked to your account?

You can but it's slightly limited

From the website you can download a song only twice
from the music manager you can download purchases once*

*there is an option to download full library but unsure if this has any restrictions as i haven't tried it

 

[daveathall]

Does Google have a place where you can re-download any of the music you've purchased? Is it linked to your account?

I never checked although when I did download it the first time a note came up saying that it could only be downloaded twice (Or similar on those lines). It didnt bother me because I put it straight in my iTunes and on a NAS that I use with my Sonos system throughout the house.

It is linked to your account, at first it is just stored in the Google music (cloud) until one wants to download it.

I'm not sure that I made a whole load of sense there, if I didn't, give me a shout and I will try to re explain.

 

[3bs]

You can but it's slightly limited

From the website you can download a song only twice
from the music manager you can download purchases once*

*there is an option to download full library but unsure if this has any restrictions as i haven't tried it

I never checked although when I did download it the first time a note came up saying that it could only be downloaded twice (Or similar on those lines). It didnt bother me because I put it straight in my iTunes and on a NAS that I use with my Sonos system throughout the house.

It is linked to your account, at first it is just stored in the Google music (cloud) until one wants to download it.

I'm not sure that I made a whole load of sense there, if I didn't, give me a shout and I will try to re explain.

Then I'll probably be sticking to iTunes since I'll have the peace of mind that if I were to ever lose the songs I have that I can just re-download them.

 

[daveathall]

Then I'll probably be sticking to iTunes since I'll have the peace of mind that if I were to ever lose the songs I have that I can just re-download them.

You could download it, save it in iTunes, and update your iTunes match and have it in the iCloud also.

I think.

It may be simpler for me because to have my album playable from Sonos without having my MBP on all the time I transfer it to a NAS, so It realy isn't a bother for me.

 

[3bs]

You could download it, save it in iTunes, and update your iTunes match and have it in the iCloud also.

I think.

It may be simpler for me because to have my album playable from Sonos without having my MBP on all the time I transfer it to a NAS, so It realy isn't a bother for me.

I don't actually use iTunes match. I'm not sure if it's available for Ireland and I'm not even sure what it does but I'll look into it.

 

[lordofthereef]

I don't actually use iTunes match. I'm not sure if it's available for Ireland and I'm not even sure what it does but I'll look into it.

iTunes match essentially stores all of your songs in the cloud. This way you can stream it from any iOS device, or any computer whch is running iTunes that you have logged in to. If You are familiar with Google Music, it is essentially the same service, with the exception that you don't have to upload those tracks which are available on iTunes already, whereas Google Music as you uploading 100% of your collection.

 

[paulsalter]

whereas Google Music as you uploading 100% of your collection.

Matching service for google is being rolled out

when parts of europe got match in October (or was it November) they got the match service

I am uploading now (majority of which just get matched to the song already on google)

 

[3bs]

iTunes match essentially stores all of your songs in the cloud. This way you can stream it from any iOS device, or any computer whch is running iTunes that you have logged in to. If You are familiar with Google Music, it is essentially the same service, with the exception that you don't have to upload those tracks which are available on iTunes already, whereas Google Music as you uploading 100% of your collection.

I might actually get it since it's only €25 a year. Does it match songs based on names of songs/artists/albums or does it analyse the songs?

 

[lordofthereef]

I might actually get it since it's only €25 a year. Does it match songs based on names of songs/artists/albums or does it analyse the songs?

Supposedly it analyses them... I have had mixed success. There are tracks that I KNOW are sold on iTunes that it failed to match, and thus required me to upload. I don't purchase anything from iTunes myself. I would say about 2/3 of my library (not TOO big, maybe 5k songs) was matched.

----------

Matching service for google is being rolled out

when parts of europe got match in October (or was it November) they got the match service

I am uploading now (majority of which just get matched to the song already on google)

That's neat. Still free?