Why buy digital music?

Streaming services are great. You can hear new things every day, but:

If people do not keep buying music (and movies) then streaming may become the only option. If that happens, the prices will rise.

Owning physical media, books, records, CDs and DVDs is great but I prefer to save that for special items and keep the rest as digital files.

What to buy

If it is important to you that you own music which is “CD Quality” or even better (“HD” or “Hi-Res”) then buy lossless music in ALAC and FLAC formats. Otherwise buy mp3s or AAC and save some money.

Best option

bandcamp is my favorite marketplace in 2024, 2025 and 2026

In 2023 both bandcamp and 7digital were bought by Songtradr

Alternatives

When an artist is not on bandcamp or some of their music is missing it usually mean you have to figure out which stores have the licensing rights for your region of the world. Unfortunately music is often available at only one store per country but sometimes you can shop around and save.

Services

All notes below are solely my own personal experiences, corrections are welcome.

Features of music sites which offer high quality downloads
Service Lossless Formats Lossy Formats Allows redownloads? Notes
ALAC FLAC AIFF WAV MP3 AAC Ogg Vorbis
bandcamp ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ Indefinitely See above. Little has changed since it was acquired.
7digital USA
7digital UK		 ❌ ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅ ✅ ❌ Indefinitely
  • Operates regional stores for major labels.
  • Quality generally tops out at 24-bit/48kHz.

Since it was acquired in 2023 the site has had no visible updates. The homepage is moribund but new music is still being added. Usually cheaper than Quobuz.
qobuz ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ Indefinitely
  • Seems to have exclusive rights to lossless Sony/Columbia music in the USA.
  • Leads with the price for lowest quality, hiding the real price.
  • Offers 24-bit/96kHz.
  • Charges a fee for using Paypal!
  • Recently removed ability to download an album in one file without a special downloader application.

Generally the most expensive but as it is clearly the preferred channel for some major labels. Many artists signed up to those labels appear exclusively here. My guess is that only the established artists who have leverage to negotiate terms appear on Bandcamp and Quobuz. Shop around the other sites to see if a bargain can be had, because not everything here is exclusive.

boomkat ❌ ✅ ❌ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ Indefinitely Manchester UK based store which sells worldwide. Hit and miss, but when they offer something it is usually very reasonably priced.
PROSTUDIOMASTERS ❌ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ None/Limited Often expensive and spotty coverage but occasionally a bargain shows up. Focussed on extremely high end DSD formats (and the truly bizarre MQA) but offering AIFF/FLAC. Unfortunately requires an unnecessary download app, but they told me in September 2026 they are going to offer a web option. Has frequent sales so when they have an item, often cheaper than Quobuz.
Bleep ❌ ➖⁽ ⃰⁾ ❌ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ Indefinitely Originally an offshoot of Warp records, has an awesome electronic back catalog. ⁽ ⃰⁾only offers highest quality music in WAV format with no track titles or artist information.
HDtracks ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ Limited US based, rock, pop, jazz & classical. Sign up for discount codes as regular prices are high. Inconveniently requires use of special downloader application.
Beatport ❌ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ Indefinite Electronic music site with no ALAC. Format selection happens after putting things into your cart which delays seeing the prices even later than others.
OTOTOY ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅ ❌ ✅ ❌ Indefinitely, some label exceptions Japanese vendor with hard to find items that accepts international orders and payment methods. Account setup and checkout available in English. Inevitably some items are “Not available in your region”.
SoundCloud</td> ❓ ❓ ❓ ❓ ❓ ❓ ❓ ❓ Honorary mention. Primarily an electronic music streaming site but artists do sometimes offer exclusive downloads.
NativeDSD ❌ ✅ ❌ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❓ Primarily classical. Focussed on extremely high end DSD formats but offering WAV/FLAC.
Service ALAC FLAC AIFF WAV MP3 AAC Ogg Vorbis Allows redownloads? Notes
Lossless Formats Lossy Formats

Lossy Services

For convenience and breadth you generally cannot beat Apple iTunes and Amazon but for download they only offer lossy music (mp3/m4A). All their high quality stuff is streaming only.

Choosing a lossless format