I first wrote about digital download sites for the the original Belly Babes website last summer, but the world of digitally downloaded music is about to change quite significantly so much of that piece is now obsolete. Digital download sites are an excellent way for Middle Eastern music fans (and indeed fans of World Music in general) to discover new sounds, so it's worth revisiting them in the blog.

On a personal level however, some things haven't changed. I still don't own an iPod and have never bought anything from iTunes. I do however use Napster on a regular basis and find it invaluable for tracking down new music. If you're new to the whole idea of buying your music on-line, here's a quick outline of the two main sites:

iTunes

If you're an iPod owner, you'll know all about iTunes as you'll need the software to add playlists to your device. If you're not an iPod owner, you'll still need to download and install the software in order to shop at the store. iTunes does not offer a subscription service, so you only pay for songs and albums you download to your pc. The downside to this is that you are only able to listen to short snippets of songs before paying for them, so if you're unfamiliar with the artist or track, it can still be something of a 'blind' purchase.

Albums cost around £7.99 and individual songs cost 79p. Songs are downloaded in AAC format, which means they can only be played on an iPod, although it is possible to convert them to MP3s using the iTunes software. The iTunes store now also offers albums under 'iTunes Plus', which means they are DRM free.

Napster

Napster is slightly different to iTunes. You also need to download and install software from their website in order to use it but you have a choice of three different levels of membership: Napster Light, which is free and offers a similar service to iTunes; Napster Subscription at £9.95 a month and Napster to Go for £14.95 a month. Individual tracks cost 79p and entire albums around £7.99.

The Napster monthly subscription allows you to listen to songs in their entirety on-line and also allows you to download them to your pc, where you can continue to listen to them for the life of your membership. You are only required to buy the tracks or albums if you want to burn them to disc or transfer them to your mp3 player.

Napster to Go has all the benefits of the Napster Monthly Subscription plus allows you to transfer an unlimited number of tracks to your MP3 player if it's compatible (ie Play For Sure).

Tracks are downloaded in the WMA format which is incompatible with the iPod.

Advantages and Disadvantages to using Napster

I'm a great fan of the Napster subscription service as it allows you to acquaint yourself with various musical artists and styles without making any expensive mistakes. It is particularly useful where the Middle Eastern Classics are concerned, as they can be an acquired taste. If you're an iPod user, use the Napster service to find the tracks you really like and then buy them from the iPod store.

Napster does have its disadvantages however. The software hasn't been updated in the UK for over a year and the screen developed a nasty habit of freezing when doing an artist search, or scrolling for latest added music. A search of the internet failed to find a cure and the support desk was unable to help. Having had similar problems with two other computers, I came to the conclusion that the problem arose from a software clash with newer versions of Windows Media Player. Downgrading my membership from Napster To Go to Napster Subscription seems to have helped somewhat, although the screen still freezes occasionally.

The main disadvantage to Napster in the UK is the fact all songs are in the WMA format and include DRM (digital rights management).

Napster US have just introduced a store offering high quality DRM-free tracks in the MP3 format. Rather than require their users to download specific software, the store is browser-based, meaning you can access it from any computer. Fingers crossed they do the same thing here.

Alternative on-line stores

hmv.com

HMV offers a subscription service for £5.99 a month. Purchased tracks are in WMA format and contain DRM. Their world music listing isn't broken down into categories, so would be time-consuming searching for music. Rather oddly it only works with Internet Explorer.

So if you want DRM-free music in the UK where can you go?

emusic.com

Again this is a subscription-based service with numerous levels of membership. Subscriptions start with the emusic Mini Monthly at £4.99 and a download limit of  10 tracks per month.  The emusic basic monthly subscription of £9.99 allows you to download 30 tracks to your pc in high quality MP3 format, which are yours to keep, burn and transfer to your MP3 player as many times as you like.  On this subscription tracks work out at 30p each, which is the cheapest of all the download sites. Most of the artists featured are on independent labels, so you won't find Coldplay or Madonna. But you will find a huge collection of Middle Eastern and bellydance music.

There are however a couple of disadvantages. The first is that you are unable to play the tracks in their entirety before you download them. The second (and biggest) disadvantage is that if you don't download 30 tracks in one month, the number of tracks left are not added to the next month's allowance so you lose them. Not a problem if there are a lot of tracks you want to download, but if it's just the odd track here and there, emusic can work out to be rather expensive.

play.com

The fabulous DVD and CD store now has a DRM-free music download store. Unfortunately their world music section is very small, so at the time of writing is not the best place for bellydance music. They are however to be encouraged and applauded for bringing DRM-free music to the UK.

Not all record companies have signed up to DRM-free music yet, so there are some significant gaps in what they can offer, but things look promising as ...

... BSkyB announced last week that they will be starting their own subscription-based DRM free music download store, so the competition can only be a good thing for UK consumers.