Forget iTunes, Buymusic.com and Liquid.com

So-called online music download services such as iTunes, Buymusic.com and Liquid.com are hyping themselves as being THE answer to file-sharing.

Forget about the two sad-sack music industry entries: pressplay and MusicNet.

I, B & L claim that on the one hand, they offer music lovers a 'legal' (safe) and inexpensive way to download hundreds and thousands of songs, and on the other, the records labels get paid.

The reality is, of course, that all three sites are just another way for Hollywood - the catch-all for 'entertainment industry' components the movie-makers, record companies and major hardware and software manufacturers - to try to skin the cat.

So far, they've failed miserably with blunder after blunder and if a report in the LA Times is anything to go by, they're not doing too well this time around either.

David Colker's Competition is clicking in music says 'sanctioned online retailers' Buymusic.com, iTunes and Liquid.com have plenty of bargains without a monthly fee, but asks, "how much of a selection do they offer?"

How much indeed?

Buymusic.com and the iTunes Music Store offer large selections without monthly service fees, says Colker, also pointing out:

"Liquid.com, from the Liquid Audio company, offers selections from some majors and independent labels that Buymusic.com and iTunes don't have. But Liquid.com's site is undergoing badly needed renovation. 'I'd be the first to admit that the customer experience is not what it should be,' said Ole Obermann ... the site's general manger."

So, continues Colker, the LA Times put all three to the test by searching on each for the same 30 music selections, including top pop hits such as Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" and longtime favorites such as the Eagles' "New Kid in Town."

It also looked for popular choices in country, rap, Latin, house, hard rock, oldies and classical music, "plus some music that is labeled 'alternative,' such as Fountains of Wayne's 'Bright Future in Sales'.

"Finally, we threw in a couple of rarities, such as an accordion rendition of 'It's a Small World,' as played by a former star of the Lawrence Welk orchestra. (It was not available — you can decide if that's a good or bad thing.)"

Because Buymusic.com and iTunes have agreements with all the major music companies, the songs offered on them are much the same, emphasises Colker, but, "The big difference is what you can do with the music once it's in your computer. In general, the iTunes shop places far fewer restrictions on burning it onto CDs, downloading it to portable music players and transferring it to other computers."

The Results ...
"The sanctioned shops don't yet offer anywhere near the wide range of music that can be obtained from illegal networks," Colker says in a breathtaking understatement, but, "for those who want to buy legally, the online retailers have hundreds of thousands of selections that can be downloaded for fees ranging from about 80 cents to $1.50. The shops differ from existing subscription music services, such as Pressplay and MusicNow, in that they don't charge a monthly fee.

That aside, the biggest problem faced by the online shops, apart from the fact that their chief competitors are the unauthorized free networks, is that there are huge gaps in their stock, he goes on. "This is due in part to the cumbersome process of obtaining the rights from labels, songwriters and, in the case of top acts such as the Rolling Stones, the artists" and "Some of the top current recordings on the Billboard charts — including the No. 1 country single, 'It's Five O'Clock Somewhere' performed by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett, and the Timo Maas remix of Tori Amos' 'Don't Make Me Come to Vegas,' a dance-club hit — are not available from the shops.

"There are gaps in oldies too. Elvis Presley's cover version of "Rip It Up" can be found, but the explosive, original performance by Little Richard cannot.

"Classical music is pretty much a disaster on the online shops. Selection is poor and the segmentation of the music causes problems."

Below are the LA Times findings:

BuyMusic = B; iTunes = I; Liquid - L

Beyoncé, "Crazy in Love": B - $1.14 I - .99 L - n/a
Counting Crows, "Big Yellow Taxi": B - n/a I n/a L - .99
Miles Davis, "Time After Time": B - 1.14 I - .99 L - n/a
Duran Duran, "Hungry Like the Wolf": B - .99 I - .99 L - n/a
Eagles, "New Kid in Town": B - n/a I - .99 L - n/a
Merle Haggard, "Mama Tried": B - 1.14 I - .99 L - n/a
King's College Choir, Vivaldi's Gloria in D: B - 10.89 I - 10.89 L - n/a
Annie Lennox, "Walking on Broken Glass": B - .99 I - .99 L - n/a
Lil Jon, "Get Low": B - /a I - n/a L - Free
Luther Vandross, "She Won't Talk to Me": B - 1.14 I - .99 L - n/a
Tom Waits, "Downtown Train": B - .99 I - .99 L - .99
Dinah Washington, "Look to the Rainbow": B - .99 I - .99 L - .99
The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again": B - .99 I - .99 L - n/a

Music not found on the three services: Tori Amos, "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas (Timo Maas Remix)"; the Beatles, "Paperback Writer"; Creed, "My Sacrifice"; Celia Cruz, "Te Busco"; Myron Floren, "It's a Small World"; Fountains of Wayne, "Bright Future in Sales"; Indigo Girls, "Midnight Train to Georgia"; Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett, "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere"; Led Zeppelin, "Kashmir"; Little Richard, "Rip It Up"; Martina McBride, "This One's for the Girls"; Ricky Martin, "Jaleo"; Orchestra of St. Luke's, "Shaker Loops"; Public Enemy, "911 Is a Joke"; Radiohead, "There There"; Seattle Symphony Orchestra, "Lincoln Portrait"; Rufus Wainwright, "April Fools"