A niche indie supplier trading mostly in electronic music – the stars of their catalogue are Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Thom Yorke (of Radiohead)… Principally formed from the catalogue of Warp records, but also featuring the catalogues of over 300 other record labels this site sells both MP3 downloads and physical discs (CD’s and vinyl). Their prices are based on the GBP, £6.99 for MP3′s, £8.99 for WAV’s (nice that they give you the choice) around £9-£13 for a CD, and a few quid more for the black stuff. If you’re in the states you’ll save by not paying the UK tax, but for everyone else they’re pretty expensive. Not really a competitor to the big guys like iTunes and Amazon, more for the enthusiast who can’t wait to get their mitts on a holdable, strokeable copy of their favourite band’s new LP or 12 inch single. They also do merch for some of the bands on their roster, so more and at the same time less than the big guys. RouteNote does not currently distribute to Bleep.
Audio Lunchbox is a DRM free download services based around a 2-million strong track list of independent musicians. They offer both a pay per track and a subscription service, which allows users to buy ‘credits’ to spend on music which would otherwise cost a far greater cash equivalent. They don’t have deals with Universal or the other bigger players, so should you subscribe, you’ll find yourself looking around for new and interesting music to spend your money on, rather than being able to get hold of stuff that you’ve heard on Radio 1.
The subscription plan does work out far cheaper per track than the cash option; depending on which package you purchase you’ll be getting tracks for less than 25 cents, as compared to 99 cents. The month by month plan costs $9.99, for which you get 40 credits a month (enough for 4 albums) plus 50 bonus credits to start you off. This might seem like a pretty cheap way of buying music, especially compare with iTunes basic and inflexible pricing scheme, but if you’re prepared to commit to a monthly outgoing to buy music, you might be well advised to check out Spotify’s subscription service; similarly priced at GBP£9.99 (the dollar is at 1.59 to the pound as I write) you get access to all the streamed music you could possibly want, advert free, with a catalogue that includes artists on both indie and major labels, and a widget for your android or iPhone that will allow you to listen to playlists you’ve created offline.
