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Even though Napster understandably likes to boast that it is the digital music leader and pioneer, let’s face it: there are plenty of other music stores online that want your money. With so many sites popping up every day, how do you know which site fits your needs the best? Should you go for an a la carte music store, or should you sign up for a Napster subscription? The truth is that there is no one answer. It all depends on your own personal relationship with music. Are you a music freak who likes to have new music constantly feeding into your computer or digital music player? Do you like to make the occasional song purchase or full-length album? The answers to these questions can help you make a decision regarding what type of digital music service would best serve your music needs.

Although the number of digital music sites available on the web appears to be gradually growing, there are two sites that stand out among the crowd. The first is Napster, and the second is the Apple iTunes Music Store. What are the main differences between the two? Let us count the ways. First, let’s take a look at the Apple iTunes Music Store. The Apple iTunes Music Store could rightly be classified as an a la carte music service. This means that the user can pick and choose between song tracks and albums. The Apple iTunes Music Store offers single tracks at 99 cents a pop. The Apple iTunes Music Store features an easy search feature. You can search by album title, song title, and artist name. The Apple iTunes Music Store also lets you sample all of the songs in its vast catalog for 30-second clips.

Of course, Apple iTunes Music Store also offers its very popular podcast features. Podcasts can encompass just about anything: they can be artist interviews, poetry readings, news segments, radio shows, or just about anything else. The Apple iTunes Music Store has struck a deal with audible.com to offer the best in new book on tape releases. Of course, perhaps the most important thing to state about the Apple iTunes Music Store is the fact that it will work seamlessly with your iPod. The iPod is easiest the most popular of all the digital music players. When you purchase a song or album from the Apple iTunes Music Stores’ a la carte menu, the song is immediately transferred onto your computer’s iTunes music library. From there, you can easily transfer any or all of your songs to your iPod.

Now, for Napster—why should you choose Napster over the Apple iTunes Music Store? If the idea of your basic a la carte music service does nothing to excite you, then perhaps you would feel more at home with Napster. Unlike the Apple iTunes Music Store, Napster offers many more ways for you to access their massive catalog of digital music files. Napster offers Napster Light, which is very similar to the way the Apple iTunes Music Store works. You simply choose the tracks you want, and download them onto your PC. If you crave more music than the occasional a la carte purchase, you may want to consider signing up for a Napster subscription membership. For $9.95 a month, you can become a Napster member.

As a Napster member, you have full, unlimited access to every song contained within the Napster song catalog. You can play as many songs as you want. Other cool Napster features include many community features, the ability to listen to and personalize over 50 completely commercial free radio stations. A Napster membership allows you to stream music continuously over your broadband connection. However, you don’t actually “own” the songs you listen to. Rather, you can listen to them for as many times that you want, as long as you stay a Napster member. If you cancel your Napster membership for any reason, you will no longer have access to the songs in your library, or songs that you may have transferred to a digital music player.